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Publications
A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic
My debut young adult novel is the diary of Clara Ketterling-Dunbar, an American suffragist who makes her way onto an Antarctic expedition during the Golden Age of exploration. When her crew’s ship is crushed in ice, her quest for equality becomes something even greater–a quest for survival.
Pegged to Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Endurance expedition, A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic is a story that “gives the girls of today the history they deserve” (Kelly DeVos, Eat Your Heart Out) and Clara’s story is “a guide of self-discovery, of navigating a world that was not made or built for you, and is a fabulous addition to any classroom, library, or personal collection.” (Lillie Lainoff, One for All)
Starred Kirkus review: “As a character, Clara feels modern but not anachronistic; she’s wrestling with social issues that continue to resonate today, and her strong voice propels readers through an adventure as compelling as Shackleton’s own to a heartfelt, realistic conclusion.”
Starred ShelfAwareness Review: (23 February 2024 issue) “Witty and poignant commentary on unimaginable peril and infuriating injustice (plus some vengeance) ensures that this historical fiction will be long remembered.
Publishers Weekly: “Lai neatly underscores the courage it took—and still takes—to be a woman in a male-dominated world.”
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center Book of the Week (25 March issue): “In a desolate and unforgiving environment, Clara stubbornly proves herself again and again, battling for her own and her crew’s survival in an engrossing story that balances action and adventure with introspection and observations of group dynamics.
Look for it everywhere books are sold, from Simon & Schuster’s Atheneum Books.
Not a Self-Help Book:
The Misadventures of Marty Wu
My debut novel, published by Shade Mountain Press in 2016, was a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. In it, you’ll meet Marty Wu, compulsive reader of advice manuals and general mess of a career woman. When a professional disaster in Las Vegas sends her right back into the arms of her overbearing mother in New York, Marty must decide between filial duty and her own career aspirations. The journey takes her back to her home country of Taiwan, where she discovers more than she ever wanted to know about her family’s secrets—but is it enough to set her on the right course? Buy it, and read more, at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and wherever books are sold.
Pin Ups
I have a long, ugly relationship with outdoor sports. I love mountain biking, trail running, skiing, adventure racing, and more, but it took me a long time figure out why I never could commit myself fully to any of them. The answer lies in my place as a woman of color in my mostly white, mostly male world. Pin Ups is a micro-memoir, the story of my love affair with the outdoors—and how I’m reconciling my place in it. Buy it from Bookshop.org, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.
Clips from The Writer magazine
“An American Immigrant in Three Bruce Springsteen Songs,” Human Parts
“I Thought This Memoir Wasn’t Taiwanese Enough—Because That Was My Fear About Myself,” Electric Literature
“Say My Name,” Babbel
“My Father Reads a Poem to Me,” Brevity
“Birthright,” Parks and Points
“Next of Kin,” Atticus Review
