Author Q&A: Yi Shun Lai and “A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic”

I was so pleased to read an advance copy of Yi Shun Lai's forthcoming A SUFFRAGIST'S GUIDE TO THE ANTARCTIC, a young adult novel constructed as the diary entries of Clara Ketterling-Dunbar, who has somehow maneuvered her way into an otherwise all-male Antarctic expedition. None of the other crew members know the full truth about Clara: that she is just eighteen and American, or that she'd been an outspoken suffragist with the Women's Social & Political Union. Still, they are wary of her,…

“How We Say I Love You”: Nicole Chen on her picture book & middle grade debuts

Author Nicole Chen (photo credit to Sarah Deragon) "How We Say I Love You," with illustrations by Lenny Wen, features a Taiwanese American girl who shares how her family expresses their love for one another through actions rather than words. If "How We Say I Love You" is, as Nicole Chen writes, "the story of [her] heart," then Chen is an author and storyteller of our own Taiwanese American heart. Raised in the Bay Area, the author blends her experience of growing up Taiwanese American with…

Alice Lin’s YA debut novel “Fireworks” navigates bisexuality, pop fandom, friendship

  In this “New Creatives” interview with Alice Lin, an up-and-coming Taiwanese American author, we dig into the cultural roots and swoon-worthy characters of her recently released young adult (YA) romance novel, Fireworks. The story revolves around Lulu Li, a 17 year-old girl who is reunited with her childhood friend, Kite Xu, now a rising K-pop star in the boy group Karnival. Upon his return home, Lulu finds herself falling in love with her childhood friend. When fame turns out to…