Jennie Liu – författare

A powerful, dual-narrative coming-of-age story set in 2009 China.Luli has just turned sixteen and finally aged out of the orphanage where she''s spent the last eight years. Her friend Yun has promised to help her get work.Yun loves the independence that her factory job brings her. For the first time in her life she has her own money and can get the things she wants: nice clothes, a cell phone . . . and Yong, her new boyfriend.There are rumors about Yong, though. Some people say he''s a bride trafficker: romancing young women only to kidnap them and sell them off to bachelors in the countryside. Yun doesn''t believe it. But then she discovers she''s pregnant—the same day she gets fired from her job. If she can''t scrape together enough money to terminate the pregnancy, she''ll face a huge fine for having an unauthorized child.Luli wants to help her friend, but she''s worried about what Yong might do . . . especially when Yun disappears."[E]xplores a moment of contemporary history and a culture that is underrepresented in YA realistic fiction."—starred, School Library Journal"Both poignant and agonizing, Girls on the Line is a must read."—starred, Foreword Reviews"An affecting and original thrill ride." Kirkus Reviews

Nineteen-year-old Na has always lived in the shadow of her younger brother, Bao-bao, her parents'' cherished son. Years ago, Na''s parents left her in the countryside and went to work in the city, bringing Bao-bao along and committing everything to his education.But when Bao-bao dies suddenly, Na realizes how little she knew him. Did he really kill himself because of a low score on China''s all-important college entrance exam? Na learns that Bao-bao had many secrets and that his death may not be what it seems. Na''s parents expect her to quit her vocational school and go to work, forcing Na to confront traditional expectations for and pressures on young women.

A suspenseful and poignant exploration of family dynamics and gender roles in today''s China.Nineteen-year-old Na has always lived in the shadow of her younger brother, Bao-bao, her parents'' cherished son. Years ago, Na''s parents left her in the countryside and went to work in the city, bringing Bao-bao along and committing everything, including all their savings, to his education.But when Bao-bao dies suddenly, Na realizes how little she knew him. Did he really end his life because of a low score on China''s all-important college entrance exam? Her parents can''t bear to talk about him, so Na investigates on her own. She learns that Bao-bao had many secrets—and that his death may not be what it seems. She also learns that her parents have serious money problems, and as their only remaining child, she''s expected to quit school and go to work to help support them. As more secrets come to light, Na must decide not only what she owes to her brother''s memory, but what she owes to herself.

Twelve-year-old Enly Wu Lewis needs to go to band camp this summer.It’ll help him follow in the footsteps of his dad, a musician who died when Enly was too young to even remember him. Enly isn’t sure if he has his dad’s talent, but he wants to find out.There’s just one hitch: The camp is too expensive, and Enly’s mom is saving every penny for his older brother’s college tuition. So Enly sets out to earn the money for camp on his own by busking—playing music on the sidewalk in the touristy part of town. What could go wrong?For one thing, the only instrument he can afford is a melodica, a cross between a harmonica and a keyboard, which he can only kind of play. And for another thing, it’s harder than Enly expected to make serious money busking.When someone drops a winning scratch-off lottery ticket into his tip box, Enly thinks it’s the answer to all his problems. But he’ll still have to face teenage thieves, his disgruntled best friend, a rogue pet pig, and his own family if he wants to achieve his dreams.

Twelve-year-old Enly Wu Lewis needs to go to band camp this summer.It’ll help him follow in the footsteps of his dad, a musician who died when Enly was too young to even remember him. Enly isn’t sure if he has his dad’s talent, but he wants to find out.There’s just one hitch: The camp is too expensive, and Enly’s mom is saving every penny for his older brother’s college tuition. So Enly sets out to earn the money for camp on his own by busking—playing music on the sidewalk in the touristy part of town. What could go wrong?For one thing, the only instrument he can afford is a melodica, a cross between a harmonica and a keyboard, which he can only kind of play. And for another thing, it’s harder than Enly expected to make serious money busking.When someone drops a winning scratch-off lottery ticket into his tip box, Enly thinks it’s the answer to all his problems. But he’ll still have to face teenage thieves, his disgruntled best friend, a rogue pet pig, and his own family if he wants to achieve his dreams.

Los Angeles, 1924Sixteen-year-old Ruby Chan considers herself a modern, independent American girl. But when her secret relationship with a white boy implodes—and then is revealed to her very traditional Chinese parents—she’s in a tough spot. Horrified that Ruby’s reputation is at risk, her parents hire a matchmaker to find her a Chinese husband. Ruby is determined to foil their plans. But how?Meanwhile, Ruby meets the nineteen-year-old film star Anna May Wong, one of her neighbors in LA’s Chinatown. The girls quickly strike up a friendship. Anna May defies Chinese convention by working as an actress on the silver screen, and she scoffs at white people’s assumptions about her. If she can forge her own path, surely Ruby can too.Not everything is as it seems, though. Danger and betrayal lurk amidst the new possibilities. To build the life she wants, Ruby will have to contend with how others see her—and decide if she’s ready to truly see herself.