New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang delivers a heartfelt and powerful YA romance about a Chinese American girl who gets help from the new boy in town to search for her dad after her successful fashion designer mother is diagnosed with cancer.
Serene dreams of making couture dresses even more stunning than her mom’s, but for now she’s an intern at her mom’s fashion label. When her mom receives a sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, all that changes. Serene has to take over her mother’s business overnight, dealing with ruthless investors who do not think a seventeen-year-old can run a fashion empire, while trying to figure out what happened with her dad in Beijing. He left before she was born, and Serene wants to find him, even if it means going against her mom’s one request—never look back.
Lian Chen moved from China to Serene’s mostly white Southern California beach town a year ago. He doesn’t fit in at school, where kids mispronounce his name. His parents don’t care about what he wants to do—comedy—and push him toward going to MIT engineering early. Lian thinks there’s nothing to stick around for, until one day, he starts Chinese Club after school . . . and Serene walks in.
Worlds apart in the high school hierarchy, Serene and Lian soon find refuge in each other, falling in love as they navigate life-changing storms.
Author’s note, with photographs.
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Gr 9 Up-Yang's novel packs a punch with family ties, romance, identity, and fashion in a story that will hook readers from page one. Serene Li is queen-bee popular, and she is dating white surfer bro Cameron. Lian Chen is a polar opposite: recently arrived to California with his family from Beijing, and is a social pariah in their mostly white school. Serene's mom is a renowned fashion designer who goes by Lily Lee, and as Serene learns the ropes of the industry, she dreams of designing success, too. Lian's oppressive and overbearing mother hounds him to get good grades and attend an Ivy League school, though he hopes to one day do stand-up comedy, which he pursues in secret. The two meet when Lian starts a Chinese Club in their school and Serene is the only person who signs up. Although they come from different worlds, they have more in common than they think. As Serene's mom battles an unexpected cancer diagnosis, and Lian's catches him in a web of lies, the teens will have to face their greatest fears: losing their mothers. Yang is a phenomenal writer, and the story flows in alternating POV chapters. Though some of the book's issues resolve rather simply, the exploration of identity is very well written and discussed. One can't help but root for the main characters as they explore the world around them, their emerging sense of self, and the feelings they have for each other. VERDICT A first purchase for all high school collections.-Carol Youssif