by Andrea Wang
First published 2021
Meilan Hua's life revolves around three things: her grandmother Nai Nai, her family's Chinatown bakery, and Chinese fairy tales. When Nai Nai dies, a bitter dispute tears the family apart. Meilan finds herself uprooted from Boston and traveling across the country with her parents and grieving grandfather until they settle in Redbud, Ohio. Rural Ohio feels like another planet compared to Chinatown. At her new school, teachers rename her, making her feel even more lost. Meilan responds by becoming multiple versions of herself, each based on a different Chinese character that shares her name's pronunciation. She shifts between Mist when she wants to disappear, Basket when carrying her family's expectations weighs her down, and Blue when her new friend Logan makes her feel bright. Meilan keeps these different selves compartmentalized until she witnesses unfairness at school. This moment forces her to discover that her true power lies not in fragmenting herself but in bringing all her identities together into one complete person.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, coming-of-age, asian-american, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Boston, Chinatown, Ohio, Redbud
Period: 21st-century
364 pages · Hardcover · Kokila