Yi Jiang

Nashville

Associate Editor at BookPage

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Articles

This Thing of Ours

1 week ago | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

Ossie Brown is ranked the third-best high school basketball player in the country and seems set to follow in the legendary footsteps of his late father, until a devastating knee injury ends his promising career. Six months later, Ossie starts his senior year without basketball or his ex-girlfriend, Laura—who ditched Ossie when he lost his star status—to get him through the alienating experience of being Black and working class amid the predominantly white, wealthy student body at Braxton Academy.
Another Word for Neighbor

1 month ago | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

The protagonist of Another Word for Neighbor, Han, only likes his tea, the newspaper and his plants—the latter because they can’t talk. So it’s not exactly a match made in heaven when young Kate and Olly, who happen to be especially chatty, move in next door. No matter how much Han ignores or chastises the pair, they persist in knocking on Han’s door, climbing up his peach tree, committing federal offenses by opening up his mailbox and asking lots of questions.
The Hold List: A blast from the past

2 months ago | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

The Headless CupidBig families are common in children’s literature, yet I am willing to argue that there is none more charming than the Stanleys, the stars of a four-book series by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Their story begins in The Headless Cupid (Atheneum, $8.99, ISBN 9781416990529), which won a Newbery Honor in 1972. Eleven-year-old David Stanley has a new stepmother, but it’s her daughter, 12-year-old Amanda, who really shakes things up for David and his three younger siblings.
Guojing on finding hope in the desert

2 months ago | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

What inspired the desert setting of Oasis? The desert represents vastness, harshness and emptiness. It also symbolizes the destruction of old ideas, ways of living and civilizations. The story follows two children who show strength as they struggle to survive in a lifeless desert and create their own natural oasis.
Your Asian Veggie Patch

Oct 7, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

Based in Melbourne, Australia, permaculture expert Connie Cao brings a joyful exuberance to her book about growing and enjoying Asian vegetables, herbs and fruits. Whether you’re an expert or new to Asian culinary traditions, Cao’s enthusiasm is contagious. Cao is the daughter of immigrants from Shanghai, who moved to Australia in 1988, and she grew up watching her dad tend his garden.
Sabaa Tahir takes readers back into the fire

Sep 30, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

Sabaa Tahir’s Heir kicks off a duology taking place 20 years after the events of her bestselling An Ember in the Ashes series. Heir follows Aiz, a lowborn orphan seeking vengeance; Sirsha, an exiled tracker who takes on a dangerous job; and Quil, the reluctant heir to the throne who faces a threat to his empire. Despite their vastly different backgrounds, all three cross paths as they grapple with a mysterious force committing horrific crimes throughout the land.
3 picture books to take you to the top of the class

Aug 5, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

Children's & YAPicture BookChildren's On the first morning of preschool, Ravi comes downstairs wearing ladybug wings and antennae. When he refuses cornflakes for breakfast, his mother tells him that it’s actually a bowl full of “aphids,” leading him to slurp it down.
Rosena Fung on juggling heartbreak and joy

Jun 30, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

Rosena Fung’s latest graphic novel, Age 16, explores the complicated relationships between three generations, jumping in time between the experiences of three 16-year-old girls: Roz in Toronto in 2000; her mother, Lydia, in Hong Kong in 1972; and Roz’s grandmother, Mei Laan, in Guangdong in 1954. How did you come up with the narrative structure of Age 16? What inspired you to pick 16 as the specific age that connects your three main characters?
Take a culinary tour of Asia with these 4 books

May 6, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

NonfictionFood & DrinkBiography Michelle T. King’s relationship with Fu Pei-mei began in childhood, with the constant presence of Pei Mei’s Chinese Cook Book in her parents’ kitchen.
Book review of Zao Fan by Michael Zee

Apr 22, 2024 | bookpage.com | Yi Jiang

How complicated can breakfast possibly get? In Zao Fan: Breakfast of China, Michael Zee writes that the enormity of Chinese cuisine is “both terrific and terrifying”—and what is usually the simplest, smallest meal of the day is no exception. Yet Zee demonstrates a knack seldom seen in English-language cookbooks for succinctly yet fully conveying the vastness and complexity of Chinese cuisine throughout the delightful recipes featured in Zao Fan.