Dragon Chica
by May-lee Chai
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Pub Date Oct 31 2010 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Description
A funny, bittersweet love story about a refugee teenager coming of age in the American Midwest.
Nea, a Chinese Cambodian teenage refugee from the Khmer Rouge, flees with what's left of her family to Texas when a miracle occurs. Struggling to get by in a strange new world, Nea's mother receives word that wealthy relatives have made it to America as well. The resolute little family stuffs Hefty bags full of belongings into the Ford and heads north. Ahead of them is the thrilling chance to help run the newly discovered family business, a Chinese restaurant in Nebraska.
The family is reunited, but soon Nea discovers their miracle is not what she had expected. Tempers flare; local reception is lukewarm, if not downright hostile; fights erupt; and Nea's beloved sister Sourdi is growing up and away from her far too fast. Then the past - and a forbidden love- threaten to tear them all apart.
DRAGON CHICA follows Nea, an indomitable character in the tradition of Holden Caulfield, Scout Finch and Jo March as she fights to save her family... and herself.
Advance Praise
--Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
"Powerful, witty and profound, Dragon Chica introduces readers to a new kind of American heroine."
--Alicia Erian, author of Towelhead
"Eleven-year-old Nea has seen the very worst this world has to offer - from civil war in Cambodia, to the rice fields of the Khmer Rouge, to the bullying hallways of American public school. Thankfully, her heart and imagination bloom wide enough to let her continue longing for the best. As she grows into a woman, Nea navigates her difficult life with clear-eyed and courageous idealism. May-lee Chai has written a brilliant and important coming-of-age story about a young refugee who refuses to give up her search for that promised refuge.
"Dragon Chica is an important and deliciously readable novel that will hold you in thrall; you won't be able to look away from these pages, even as your eyes fill up with tears."
-Nina de Gramont, author of Every Little Thing in the World and Gossip of the Starlings
"From the killing fields of Cambodia to a Chinese restaurant in the middle of the cornfields of Nebraska, Dragon Chica takes the reader deep into a compelling story about two sisters and the secret histories that surround them."
-Marie Myung-Ok Lee, author of Somebody's Daughter
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781934848487 |
| PRICE | |
