ACHUKA Book of the Day 16 June 2022
“About much more than just racism toward Chinese Americans, this novel deftly tackles the precarious moments surrounding the end of high school and the beginning of college, when romantic and familial relationships are complicated, changing, and all-consuming. Quiet yet powerful, complex, and grounded in the reality that nothing will ever be completely resolved.” KIRKUS
Two sisters. A shocking racist incident. The summer that will change both of their lives forever.
Annalie and Margaret are sisters who agree on only one thing — that they have nothing in common. Annalie is seventeen — sweet, content, and looking forward to a summer of flirting with the most popular boy in school. Margaret is nineteen — ambitious, a warrior for social justice, and desperate to forget her ex-boyfriend in New York City. When their family is the victim of a racial attack, Annalie tries to pretend it never happened but Margaret wants to fight back. Suddenly their relationship is hanging by a thread. And then a crushing secret threatens to tear them apart forever…
A beautiful and powerful story about family, identity and the secrets we keep.
Xixi (pronounced like two c’s) Tian was born in China and grew up in central Illinois. She attended the University of Illinois and then Harvard Law School before becoming a tech lawyer. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, cat Umberto (see the Instagram post) and young baby. She has written on Instagram about contemporaneously becoming a new mother and a debut author. “Publishing, I guess, is a lot like motherhood. Great but also bad. I decided, like a major dumbass, to have a debut novel and a debut baby within 3 months of each other, thinking, how hard can it be? I’ll be on 6 months of maternity leave; it’ll be like a half year vacation with my baby; it’s a rollercoaster that only goes up!!!! Friends, I would not recommend. I’m begging y’all to wrap it up until WELL AFTER you’ve worked through your first book ennui.”
Follow the author on Instagram (here you see Umberto alongside the US cover of the book):
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