And amidst the constant fear of discovery, the two grapple with a mutual attraction that could break both of their carefully guarded hearts. But as they grow closer, they must find common ground to protect those they love. Thrust together on a high-stakes mission to spy on the capital, the two couldn’t be more different: Zivah, deeply committed to her vow of healing, and Dineas, yearning for vengeance. Now escaped and reunited with his tribe, he’ll do anything to free them from Amparan rule-even if it means undertaking a plan that risks not only his life but his very self.

Now she’s destined to live her last days in isolation, cut off from her people and unable to practice her art-until a threat to her village creates a need that only she can fill.īroken by torture at the hands of the Amparan Empire, Dineas thirsts for revenge against his captors. When Zivah falls prey to the deadly rose plague, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she fully succumbs.

(Jan.Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook Back matter includes author’s and illustrator’s notes, as well as a Mandarin-English glossary with pronunciations in pinyin. A richly nuanced narrative that illuminates the interstices of one family’s diasporic experience. Digital illustrations evoking vintage advertisements have an effectively nostalgic quality, enhanced by abstract-colored skies, a subtle rice paper–like texture, and a subdued mid-century modern palette, while contemporary touches, including spreads of the girl and Popo video chatting, ground the story in the present day. (“I wave at Popo”), meets new friends (“I think of Popo”), and learns English (“I talk to Popo”), her relationship with Popo remains robust, even as her ties with her first language weaken. Though the child subsequently moves from Taiwan to the U.S. Spotlighted variations on the titular phrase launch descriptions of the experiences the first-person protagonist shares with Popo: “I bow to Popo on New Year’s Day,” one page begins, sensorially relaying Lunar New Year traditions and foods that the family enjoys. Steeped in personal history, this picture book from a Taiwanese American author-illustrator-editor team tenderly portrays the time zone–transcending love between a girl and her grandmother.

Rosemarked by livia blackburne