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Author Andrea Wang on Growing up Chinese-American in the Midwest

On the podcast: Children's and middle-grade author Andrea Wang talks about her two new releases, "The Many Meanings of Meilan" and "Watercress."

Find the full transcript after the Episode Notes.

Episode notes

The Many Meanings of Meilan book cover, Andrea Wang
Andrea Wang's middle-grade novel explores identity, culture, and growing up.

For the first episode of Season 4, children's and middle-grade author Andrea Wang ‘11 talks about her two new releases of 2021—both exploring Asian American identity and growing up in the Midwest. Watercress is a gorgeous picture book about feeling out of place, about family and about family history. The Many Meanings of Meilan finds a middle-grade girl dealing with the upheaval of a big move to a small town, racism, and trying to fit in. In our interview, Andrea talks about her experiences, the recent violence against Asians, and why now is an important time for her books to hit shelves.

Image from 'Watercress' picture book by Andrea Wang
Pages from "Watercress" by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin

About Andrea
Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of picture books The Nian Monster (Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor) and Magic Ramen (Freeman Book Award Honor). In 2021, she published her children's book Watercress (2021 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award, JLG Gold Standard Selection, starred reviews from BCCB, Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal) and The Many Meanings of Meilan, her debut middle grade novel. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She is also the author of seven nonfiction titles for the library and school market. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an MFA in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in the Denver area with her family. 

Learn more about Andrea on her website.(link is external)

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