Private Label
Description
The Devil Wears Prada meets Far from the Tree in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang's powerful love story about two teens searching for their place in the world.
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 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 a 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.
* Junior Library Guild Selection * A Common Sense Selection *
Product Details
BISAC Categories:
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
About the Author
Kelly Yang is the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk, Three Keys, and Room to Dream and is the winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature. She went to college at age thirteen and is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is the founder of the Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia. She lived in Hong Kong for fifteen years, where she taught many parachutes and was a columnist for the South China Morning Post. Her writing has also been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly currently lives in Los Angeles with her family. Please find her online at www.kellyyang.com. Parachutes is her YA debut.
Reviews
A fierce entrance into YA, navigating a plethora of complex themes with great honesty... Claire and Dani's mettle and solidarity as they contend with the institutions and privilege that hide abuse is gripping and empowering. Yang offers a compelling exploration of the parachute experience and the intersection of ethnicity, class, and reputation, while underscoring striking cultural parallels between America and China. Strong characterization and thoughtful writing make for an unforgettable read.--ALA Booklist (starred review)
Yang deftly weaves in parallels to recent real-life events... On top of these explorations of nationality and wealth is the realistically pervasive look at rape culture... In short alternating chapters narrated by Dani and Claire, Yang creates a delicate balance between these heavier issues and the lighter moments of high school... [A] powerful exploration of race, class, and power through multiple lenses... An engrossing read that will spark discussions on a wide range of issues.--School Library Journal (starred review)
In her YA debut, Yang (Front Desk) draws from personal experience and the news to tell a contemporary story of class discrepancy, the pervasiveness of rape culture, and the Asian diaspora... a multifaceted read, by turns poignant, fun, and exultant in its celebration of the multitudinous experiences and strength inherent in diasporic identity.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Yang has created two distinct and vibrant voices that shimmer with passion for both justice and independence... The convincing narrative, told in alternating first-person perspectives, confronts pervasive and xenophobic stereotypes, with secondary characters' complex identities adding depth and emotion to the story.--Horn Book Magazine
Yang writes astutely about the destabilizing combination of family expectations, copious wealth, and absence of adult supervision. She's also sharply perceptive about the class and race complexities of a community that contains rich Asian visitors and American-born Asians, great wealth and straitened circumstances... A spirited slice of cultural life and story of girls facing cruel inequities, and Yang's compelling author's note about parachutes and her own experience of being sexually assaulted adds another poignant facet.--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Parachutes is a force. As fast-paced as it is powerful, its story of immigration, social class, and rape culture calls out the damaging consequences of privilege in ways that will make readers want to speak up and take action." --Randy Ribay, National Book Award finalist and author of Patron Saints of Nothing
"Parachutes is not just a searing drama that explores the lives of Asians in America, it's a courageous, empowering story about how high women can soar when they lift each other up."--Stacey Lee, award-winning author of The Downstairs Girl
Awards and Praise for Front Desk: Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature Parents' Choice Gold Medal Fiction Award Winner Named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR Kirkus Reviews Publishers Weekly Washington Post Amazon School Library Journal Bookpage New York Public Library Chicago Public Library Top Ten Debut Novels 2018--ALA Booklist
* "Debut author Yang weaves in autobiographical content while creating a feisty and empowered heroine. The supporting characters are rich in voice and context ...achingly reveal life in America in the 1990s for persons of color and those living in poverty."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
