First published 2021
Seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City from China in 1994, bursting with curiosity but quickly overwhelmed by fear and poverty. Her parents, former professors in China, now work in Chinatown sweatshops while living as undocumented immigrants. The stress transforms her once-happy parents into strangers who fight constantly. At school, classmates and teachers ignore Qian because of her broken English. She finds comfort in the library, learning the language through books and treating The Berenstain Bears like her first American friends. Small pleasures sustain her: greasy pizza, treasure hunting through Brooklyn trash on shopping days, a magical Christmas trip to Rockefeller Center. Then her strong-willed mother collapses from an illness she hid for months, afraid of medical costs and attention. As her father withdraws deeper into himself, Qian clings to his repeated warning: always claim you were born here. This story follows a girl growing up invisible in America's shadows, searching for light while her family fractures under the weight of their hidden existence.
Genres: american-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, asian-american
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Brooklyn, Chinatown, New York City
Period: 1994
320 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday