"Los Angeles, 1924
Sixteen-year-old Ruby Chan considers herself a modern, independent American girl. But when her secret relationship with a white boy implodes—and then is revealed to her very traditional Chinese parents—she's in a tough spot. Horrified that Ruby's reputation is at risk, her parents hire a matchmaker to find her a Chinese husband. Ruby is determined to foil their plans. But how?
Meanwhile, Ruby meets the nineteen-year-old film star Anna May Wong, one of her neighbors in LA's Chinatown. The girls quickly strike up a friendship. Anna May defies Chinese convention by working as an actress on the silver screen, and she scoffs at white people's assumptions about her. If she can forge her own path, surely Ruby can too.
Not everything is as it seems, though. Danger and betrayal lurk amidst the new possibilities. To build the life she wants, Ruby will have to contend with how others see her—and decide if she's ready to truly see herself."
"Twelve-year-old Enly Wu Lewis is determined to go to band camp and follow in the footsteps of his musician father, who died years ago.
But his mom, a single parent working two jobs, is saving every penny for his older brother's college tuition. So Enly sets out to earn the money for camp on his own, by busking with an obscure instrument he can only kind of play. When someone drops a winning scratch-off lottery ticket into his tip box, Enly thinks it's the answer to his problems—but he'll have to overcome teenage thieves and his own family if he wants to achieve his dreams."
"Na has grown up in the shadow of her younger brother, Bao-bao, her
parents’ cherished son. When they were younger, Na’s parents went to
work in the city, bringing Bao-bao along and devoting all their savings to
his education, while Na was left behind in the countryside.
But when Bao-bao dies suddenly, Na realizes how little she knew him. Did
he really end his life because of a low score on China’s all-important college
entrance exam? Her parents can’t bear to talk about him, so Na investigates
on her own. She learns that Bao-bao had many secrets—and that his death
may not be what it seems. She also learns that her parents have serious
money problems, and as their only remaining child, she’s expected to quit
school and go to work to help support them.
As more secrets come to light, Na must decide not only what she owes to her
brother’s memory, but what she owes to herself."
