"The Paper Menagerie", Ken Liu

SS F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) March/April 2011 – fantasy

An American boy's Chinese mother makes origami paper animals for him. She breathes life into them, at least figuratively, perhaps more. The paper tiger, Laohu, takes on the neighbor kid's Obi-Wan Kenobi toy. The boy wants his mother to be less foreign, more American, and speak English to him.

A good story. When grown-up, the boy regretfully realizes he didn't know his mother, who was a mail-order bride, that well.

2012 Hugo Award nominees :: novella

2012 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novella

"The Ice Owl", Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF 11-12/11)
"Countdown", Mira Grant (Orbit Short Fiction)
"The Man Who Bridged the Mist", Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 10-11/11)
"Kiss Me Twice", Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s 6/11)
"The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary", Ken Liu (Panverse Three)
Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)

2012 Hugo Award nominees :: novelette

2012 Hugo Award nominees for Best Novelette

"Six Months, Three Days", Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com 6/8/11)
"The Copenhagen Interpretation", Paul Cornell (Asimov’s 7/11)
"What We Found", Geoff Ryman (F&SF 9-10/11)
"Fields of Gold", Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)
"Ray of Light", Brad R. Torgersen (Analog 12/11)

2012 Hugo Award nominees :: short story

2012 Hugo Award nominees for Best Short Story

"Movement", Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s 3/11)
"The Paper Menagerie", Ken Liu (F&SF 3-4/11)
"The Homecoming", Mike Resnick (Asimov’s 4-5/11)
"Shadow War of the Night Dragons, Book One: The Dead City (Prologue)", John Scalzi (Tor.com 4/1/11) "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees", E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld 4/11)