In my debut novel, Pippa Park Raises Her Game, I spent a lot of time thinking about the relationship between Pippa Park and her brother-in-law, Jung-Hwa. Since Pippa often squabbles with her older sister, Mina, I wanted her to have a sweet, strong bond with Jung-Hwa. Going into the first draft, I knew Pippa adored Jung-Hwa as a father figure, but the more I wrote about him, the more I adored him as well.

Last night, Linda Sue Park was one of many wonderful speakers at the KidLit Rally 4 Black Lives, which was created by Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, and Jason Reynolds. Having recently read Park’s latest book, Prairie Lotus (delivered to my apartment by the lovely Books Are Magic) it was so powerful to see her speak about the way Asians, especially East-Asians, can use the “power of white adjacency” to speak up to white people about racism against black people. Read on for my review of Prairie Lotus, and then, if you missed the rally, you can watch the entire event here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=248795633092755.

If you need inspiration while writing, create your own book-themed playlist! Making a playlist will energize you, offering continued inspiration for your story. You can include songs your main character would enjoy listening to and songs representing a specific character or chapter—whatever will get you get closer to your characters and capture the tone of your book. Check out my playlist for Pippa Park Raises Her Game!

Why did you become a writer?

There wasn’t a particular reason; it’s just something I’ve always done and always loved. I’ve been writing for longer than I can remember—first, in old notebooks with such terrible handwriting that no one, not even myself, would ever be able to decipher it, and then later, on the family computer whenever I could fight off my siblings for computer time. 

Invite your friends and family to join a Virtual Book Club and talk about books for some fun (and educational!) social interaction.

After many nights sleeping in hotels with weird, unidentified sounds, I am officially back to sleeping in my own bedroom with its own weird, unidentified, but familiar sounds. Concerns over COVID-19 canceled events in Texas, Oregon, and California. Hopefully, I’ll have the chance to make it out to those states one day. For now, I’m content to hole up in my apartment for a while. In between reading, writing, and binge-watching new Netflix shows, I’ve had a chance to reflect on all the wild, wonderful bits of my travels. Here are the highlights from my first author tour...
 

I first read The Doll People by Ann M. Marlin and Laura Godwin when I was in elementary school. So when I was on tour a few weeks ago and the owner of Blue Willow Bookshop mentioned the title to me, a couple bells rang faintly in my mind. But I couldn’t quite put a plot to the name. Then, I saw the cover. Immediately, warm memories rushed back to me. Of course, I thought. How could I forget about The Doll People? How could I forget about green-haired Annabelle or the adventure of being cooped up in a single house? Whether you’re in a nostalgic mood like me or you’re someone who is just now encountering this charming series, The Doll People is sure to win you over.

Need home entertainment for your middle schooler? Play Word Games with Pippa Park!

Cake has always been one of my favorite desserts. Carrot cake, German chocolate cake, and, of course, the best of the best—birthday cake! In Remy Lai’s Pie in the Sky, the main character Jingwen makes an abundance of cakes. Every single one looked absolutely mouthwatering, but I didn’t have so much as a spoonful of frosting nearby! I’m already looking forward to a reread—and this time I’ll be huddled up in a bake shop.

Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home was recently named a Younger Readers Category Honor Book in the 2020 Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature. Told as a prose poem, the book is full of beautiful and powerful language, and readers will find themselves immediately immersed in the life of a young Syrian girl named Jude.

I am a huge book and television person. However, for whatever reason, I tend not to watch as many movies. But the last two films I’ve watched have been Parasite and To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, and although polar opposite in tone, both had me thinking: I definitely need to watch more films. And since Parasite just won the Academy Award for Best Picture, I decided to do a double-feature review.

Pippa Park Raises Her Game is on sale in five days! So I am sharing five behind-the-book facts about our newest heroine...

I adore haunted houses. Actually, let me rephrase. While I would never want to go inside a haunted house, I find them fascinating and enjoy researching and watching videos about them from the safety of my own bed. So when I picked up Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunters while browsing Powell’s Books and saw that it features both a haunted house and a Korean protagonist, I nearly did a little happy dance right there in the store. Korean shamanism plays a role in this book too—something I haven’t seen explored in other horror novels. I wanted this book so badly. Have no fear (ha)—it didn’t disappoint.

Baba Yaga lives in a hut that moves around on chicken legs. She rides through the air in a mortar driven by a pestle. She eats children. If any of those things entice you, you’d definitely be a fan of Baba Yaga.

We’re now in the thick of winter, and just as I bury myself in blankets and sip steaming hot tea to stave off the cold, sometimes I need books to help melt my icy insides as well. While Stargazing, a graphic novel by Jen Wang, delves into issues such as feeling different within your own community and parental expectations, it’s told with such sweetness that this relatable and intimate story about friendship warmed my heart. 

From the editors of Fabled Films Press:  

It’s the time of year for making resolutions, whether your goal is to start a regular workout routine or to try more teas in 2020. This year, we have a resolution for you that will strengthen your relationship with your children, encourage reading and learning, and motivate you to spend quality time with your family: read together!

I’ve always been a big fan of retellings. I love returning to characters or plots or tropes that I’ve heard before but experiencing those elements in a completely new way. That’s why I knew I had to pick up a book by Liesl Shurtliff, the best-selling author of several fractured fairy tales. Grump was the first book of hers that I picked up, and after racing through this fun, exciting Snow White retelling, I know I’ll definitely be back for her others.