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Books for Adults
​It’s the golden age of Hollywood. For two Vietnamese dreamers, success means conjuring a magical break in a spellbinding novel about the frightening price of fame by the author of The Monstrous Misses Mai.
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More like sisters than best friends, Issa Bui and Olivia Nong grew up dreaming of becoming movie stars. But for young Vietnamese women in 1930s Hollywood, the MGM back lot seems unreachable. Undeterred, Issa knows she’s meant for great things. The blood of shamans runs through her veins. To find fame in this town, for herself and for Olivia, Issa needs to make connections. For starters, with her dead grandmother Bà Ngoại.
Frightening enough in life—Issa’s own mother forbade any contact—Bà Ngoại is even more intimidating in death. A formidable presence of smoke, promises, and pacts, Bà Ngoại introduces Issa and Olivia to her friend on the other side: the late Ava Lin Rang, a singularly magnetic Asian star of the silent screen. Ava coaches, encourages, and utilizes her own unique influence to open doors for her determined protégés.
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As Issa begins drawing on her own untapped powers, every dream is coming true. But in a city of illusions, at what cost?
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A determined young woman in 1950s Los Angeles walks a darker city than she ever imagined in a spellbinding novel about the power to make dreams come true―whatever the sacrifice.
Los Angeles brims with opportunity in 1959―though not for aspiring fashion designer Cordelia Mai Yin, the first-generation child of Vietnamese immigrants, who finds the city unkind to outsiders and as dispirited as her own family. When Cordi rents a cheap loft in an old apartment building, she quickly warms to kindred souls Tessa, Audrey, and Silly. They also want better things and have pasts they’d rather forget. That they all share the same middle name makes their friendship seem like destiny.
As supportive as they are of each other, it’s a struggle just to eke out a living, let alone hope to see their wishes for success come true. Until an ever-present and uncannily charming acquaintance of the landlord’s offers a solution to their problems. He promises to fulfill their every dream. All it takes is a little magic. And a small sacrifice.
As one surprisingly effective spell leads to another, their wishes get bigger. But so does the price they must pay. Amid the damaged seams of her life so far, Cordi must realize her own power in order to rip free, without losing everything she’s worked so hard to achieve.
Books for Middle Grade Readers
** A 2020 Kirkus Best Book of the Year
** A 2022 Panda Book Awards Nominee
** A 2023 Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee
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Eleven-year-old Thom Ngho is keeping a secret: she’s strong. Like suuuuper strong. Freakishly strong. And it’s making it impossible for her to fit in at her new middle school.
In a desperate bid to get rid of her super strength, Thom makes a deal with the Monkey King, a powerful deity and legendary trickster she accidentally released from his 500-year prison sentence. Thom agrees to help the Monkey King get back his magical staff if he'll take away her strength.
Soon Thom is swept up in an ancient and fantastical world in where demons, dragons, and Jade princesses actually exist. But she quickly discovers that magic can’t cure everything, and dealing with the trickster god might be more trouble than it’s worth.
In this sequel to Girl Giant and the Monkey King, Thom and her friends set off on a far flung adventure to save the Heavens and the Jade Emperor from certain destruction.
Thom Ngho thought the Monkey King was her friend—he taught her to control her super strength and to stand up for herself. But really he was just using her. He tricked her into stealing from the Heavens and releasing him from his 500-year prison. Now the Monkey King is waging a war against the Heavens and Thom must do everything in her power to fix the mess she made.
Determined to prevent a war, Thom and her dragon friend Kha set off on an adventure across the Heavens to search for allies. But with the stakes higher than ever, the price for help may be more than Thom is willing to pay....
This richly woven middle-grade fantasy series is full of humor, magic, and heart, and will appeal to readers who love Roshani Chokshi and Sayantani DasGupta.
Hidden Tails is a story about two orphaned siblings stranded on a mysterious island hotel filled with secrets and strange creatures.
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Publication is scheduled for Spring 2025
Releases April 21, 2026
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A funny and heartwarming middle grade novel about first jobs and second chances where one girl’s summer punishment becomes a mission to save a struggling nail salon and bring her family together—perfect for fans of Front Desk and Millionaires for the Month.
Twelve-year-old Domi Pham had the perfect summer planned: lounging by the pool, making art with her best friend, and celebrating her escape from seventh grade. But one costly mistake puts her dream summer on hold. Instead, she finds herself deep in debt to her parents, and shipped off to New Mexico to work at her Auntie Q’s nail salon for the next three months.
At first, Domi is miserable—surrounded by nosy aunties, constant nail polish fumes, and endless work. But as she gets to know Auntie Q and the people in the salon, she starts to see their struggles and resilience in a new light. When she discovers that the salon is at risk of closing, Domi puts her creativity and determination to the test to help save it.
Short Stories
Prequel short to Girl Giant and the Monkey King
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A sweeping and magical story collection showcasing the mythical creatures of Southeast Asia, including work by two-time Newbery medalist Erin Entrada Kelly and National Book Award finalist Shing Yin Khor
A turtle the size of an island. A cricket that can possess you if swallowed. A giant who turns enemies to stone. The legends of Southeast Asia—or “the lands below the winds,” as explorers used to call it—are populated with a whole menagerie of colorful beasts that inspire awe and fear in equal measure.
Yet, passed on as they are through story and song, so many of these stories remain rooted in some long-forgotten past and bound by the borders of the region, creatures of myth and memory and nothing more. Until now.
Welcome to The Beasts Beneath the Winds, a collection of Southeast Asia’s most elusive cryptids by a team of bestselling and award-winning authors. Within these gorgeously illustrated pages, readers will find the stories of seventeen regular kids who encounter these mythical creatures in the here and now, and—fortunately or unfortunately—live to tell the tale.
Contributors include Hanna Alkaf (The Weight of Our Sky, Queen of the Tiles), Nadia Mikail (The Cats We Meet Along The Way), Brandon Hoàng (Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend), Mandy Moe Pwint Tu (Monsoon Daughter), Moniza Hossain (Being Ace), V.T. Bidania (Astrid & Apollo and the Happy New Year), Emma Goddard, Dow Phumiruk (One Girl, Maya Lin), Erin Entrada Kelly (Hello Universe, We Dream of Space, The First State of Being), Gail D. Villanueva (My Fate According to Butterfly, Sugar and Spite), Greg van Eekhout (The Boy at the End of the World, COG), Jesse Q. Sutanto (Dial A for Aunties), June CL Tan (Jade Fire Gold), Mae Respicio (The House that Lou Built, Any Day With You), Shing Yin Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po), Van Hoang (Girl Giant & The Monkey King), Veeda Bybee (Courage on Ice, Lily and the Great Quake).