Chineseamerican Stories

Growing up Toisanese (the real pronunciation is Hoisanese) in the San Gabriel Valley suburbs of Los Angeles, I was an awkward but observant Toisan Girl. I never really fit in anywhere - straddled between American and Chinese cultures as an ABC. Between a paranoid born-again Christian mother, and a rageful, hardworking father behind closed doors, I somehow survived. Many a misadventure unfolded through my coming of age years....

Two friends growing up in the American Midwest, one Chinese-American the other, Turkish-American, have their lives turned upside-down by the 9/11 attacks. They struggle to come to terms with what it means to be American in a world where they never quite fit in.

How Elizabeth Chen found a missing puzzle piece in the form of Christian Lim.

"Báichī, bèndàn, shǎguā. I hear you, and I know you are calling me stupid." "You don't joke around with friends?" he asked defensively. "I would never presume to be friends with you," she shot back. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Zoe regretted saying them. "We aren't friends?" Kai had the same hurt puppy look on his face that he did when they were filming at Garrett's and no one would talk to him. *** Zoe Young was taking a year off from law school to study business at the University of Chicago when she literally collided with Kai Chen, fellow b-school student and part of a group of four friends known as "the Bosai." He's also the handsome but arrogant scion of a wealthy Chinese family. As Zoe and her friends get to know the Bosai boys, friendships are struck, romantic feelings develop, and cultural conflicts arise. And while Zoe struggles with her own identity as a Chinese adoptee, Kai fights to be independent of his powerful family. This is my take on the Hana Yori Dango/Boys Over Flowers/Meteor Garden story with characters that are eight to 10 years older and set at an American university. I rated this "Mature" because of strong language. I hope you enjoy it.

Three women, two generations, one meal. Holly is a college student caught in the ridge between childhood and maturity. Doris hovers nervously, a once-loving auntie turned stranger by time and personality. Mama: the woman who binds them together, once the boldest of the three but suffering from dementia. One runs from the past, one still lives in it, and one cannot help but let go of it. What remains unsaid stifles the home, and they all stopper their suffering with mouthfuls of rice.

Charlotte Yueng, Charlie, is Asian. She never thought it would affect how the world saw her until she went to high school. She was viewed as the short Chinese basketball play who played point guard that didn't have that many friends that were off of her team. On the outside she was strong and headstrong and willing to do anything to get to nationals before she graduates while balancing her grades at a 95% average to please her very traditional Asian parents. But inside all she wants is to be like any other girl, having more friends, having time for herself and going to parties but most of all a boyfriend. But what if Charlie does become that girl? Is it all she thought it was or will it be totally different from what she imagined? please do not copy, thx :)

Mindy Lee's life turned upside down when she got pregnant at 14. She had to drop out of school and work long grueling hours at the only place that would hire her - Molly McCammon's "Sunrise" restaurant in the Valley. Over the years, Mindy cleans up her act and begins to love cooking. She has a clean cut boyfriend and co-parents with her ex in a civil manner. Everything begins to turn upside down again when she falls in love with Saloma, a Mexican hipster surfing instructor who also happens to be the very hot girlfriend of her ex-husband. Will Mindy Lee misbehave and feed into all the negative shame of her past? Or will she learn to love and forgive herself for all that she can never be? Mindy Lee Sunrise is a story about tenderness, forgiveness, women, and starting again.

4/16/21 Dear Diary, So apparently I'm supposed to be keeping a diary now. Adults are so weird. I mean, you don't talk for months because COVID has made you realize you don't have any friends and bam! They give you a book thinking it's gonna solve everything. ~~~~~~ Story summary inside :)

Aïssa Cissé has her life down to a perfect system: tough-as-nails prosecutor's assistant by day, unapologetic Chinese drama fangirl by night. While her coworkers at the Highland Agency think she spends her evenings networking or "reading case files," the truth is she's swooning over subtitles, learning Mandarin phrases from YouTube, and hoarding bubble tea loyalty cards like precious evidence. Her double life stays neatly tucked away-until Ayden Lin walks through the office doors. The newly hired Chinese-American attorney, with his sharp suits and disarming smile, makes the whole department buzz. But it's not his résumé that has Aïssa panicking-it's the fact that he accidentally discovers her "secret identity" as the office's closet C-drama addict. Instead of mocking her, Ayden is intrigued. Soon, Aïssa finds herself swept into long lunch breaks filled with cultural debates, late-night noodle runs, and impromptu Mandarin lessons that feel dangerously like dates. But the more she lets Ayden into her carefully curated world, the harder it becomes to keep her heart-and her career-untangled. Between courtroom deadlines and blossoming chemistry, Aïssa must decide if she's ready to turn her scripted fantasies into something real... even if it means risking everything for a romance that doesn't come with subtitles.

𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 (𝚊𝚍𝚓.) /ˈnevərˈendiNG/ "(especially of something unpleasant) having or seeming to have no end." _ Kamila Wang was the model of high school girls her age: smart, pretty, social. Scouted as a runway model at 11 and now working towards boosting her college applications, Kamila's one and only goal in life was to get rich and enjoy it when she gets older. As junior year lies ahead of her, the pressure just grows stronger (like with any highschooler). However, the stakes only get higher as Kamila is invited into a whole new world and becomes more and more involved with the upper echelon aristocrats she so dearly had wished to become a part of. In reality, things aren't as simple as just networking. The upper echelon's version of ideal is far from Kamila, and just because she's become rich doesn't mean she's enough. Etiquette lessons get added on top of her previous schedule, and interactions between herself and the upper class become priority instead of her previous goals. She needs to change completely. Without enough time, she has to choose just how much of herself she's willing to give up just to fit into this new persona. Well, as long as she reaches the top, there's no problem in sacrificing everything. Right? _ Helia Rosworth has never liked the environment at Goldencrest Academy. Not the teachers, and definitely not the hypocritical students secretly competing with one another just for a college. The most hypocritical of all? His so-called "best friend", Kamila. However, as she grows increasingly distant towards her friend groups and starts becoming a version of herself that even the previous Kamila would've hated, he just knows that something is wrong. And he's going to fix it.

Jeremy Zhang is poor, technically homeless, and lives with his mother and two (half) siblings on the highway, going from one place to the next across the country. It's no picnic, but he has his family, and that's all he needs. But when a series of sudden disasters strike, he finds himself living at his estranged grandparents' home, facing the one thing he's always dreamed about and dreaded: a normal life. High school. Friends. Living in a stable house. Jeremy doesn't know what to feel about all these changes, but he has to learn to adapt or spend the rest of his life running away, just like his beloved mother.

~An anthology written for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month '23, '24, and '25~ It's no surprise that my stories are all written from the heart. I've been thinking, though - home is where the heart lives. Maybe I should write about my home this time around. These stories, accompanied with notes about identity and diversity, intertwine into a possibility of how culture shapes who we are today. Embark on adventures or relish in the little moments in life, filled with Chinese history, culture, mythology, and more - tidbits from where I live and where my heart lies. Each story will acclaim and pay tribute to where I am and what made me, me. After all, there's no shame in loving who you are. ------------------ Accolades: 🥇1st in the Glorious Awards 🥇1st in the Dazzle Awards: Random Category 🥇1st in the Brumous Collab Awards 2024: Best Opening Line 🥈2nd in the Categories Mini Awards: Best Opening Chapter 🥉3rd in the Valentine Awards: Diversity Genre

Where 'ABC' by Gene Luen Yang meets 'Starry River of the Sky' by Grace Lin... Kieran Fu and Katharyn Kuang have been inseparable since Day One, building their friendship on shared stories of ancient folktales and a love of home-cooked, non-American food. But they're more connected to those old fables than they think: riddles and red strings run deep in Kieran's family, while Katharyn can trace her family tree back to a tragic myth of star-crossed lovers. During their formative years, the pair encounter groundbreaking discoveries and strange signs that reveal the truth - and the interconnectedness - of the folktales they know and love. When Kieran and Katharyn return home for the summer after university, their families start pushing them toward a fate of eternal union that neither of them wants. Bound by ancient prophecies and long-standing tradition, the two must decide: can they rewrite their destinies, or will the red string of fate tie them down a path they can't escape? After all, only one thing is for certain: legends are more than lessons - and they can turn to reality in the blink of an eye. ----- 'red string:' an ONC 2025 novella by Faith @kth_disneyfanatic cover by @Saramitra_

Alternate ending to Kelly Loy Gilbert's 2018 YA LGBTQ book Picture Us in the Light.

Joshua Choi has been Navii Caliano's academic rival from first grade to their now junior year of high school. The two have always been stuck together in the same class; causing them to always be at each others' throats for years now, the feud is everlasting. With both Navii and Joshua being voted as their classes class presidents it only adds more fuel to the fire; causing there to be more class debates and bickering than usual. Even if the two have worked together because of their shared class president duties and they've known each other since elementary, they've never had serious deep conversations with each other-- the three main topics of their conversations with each other are: school, who's right/wrong, and who's better than the other. But, with the recent school cultural festival coming up soon, both Navii and Joshua have been spending more time together after school than usual. every day the two meet to talk about their plans for the festival and the event they must hold for their class. With this extra time spent together, they both open up more-- letting their vulnerability spill out, and seeing the other in a new light. will the vulnerability cause them both to see that they're no different from each other? or will it add an awkward impact on their 'just a rival' relationship? YA academic rivals to lovers trope </3

If you were thinking this was somewhere close to crazy rich Asians I don't think you're in the right place. However if you've been scrolling through SAD on fb, constantly laughing about the memes on everydayasian , and constantly counting the coins in your coin pouch

"Huang Zhenghua, what are you doing in America?" "Me? I'm cultivating immortality." "Come on, I'm serious." "So am I." "Ha! There's no spiritual energy in America." "Who told you that? There's plenty-just hidden." Huang Zhenghua, a Chinese-American nobody, accidentally inherits the legacy of a powerful cultivator from the Beidou Realm. From that day on, while others chase money, fame, and Hollywood stars, he chases the Dao. Scarlett Johansson wants to meet him? "Not interested." Megan Fox? "Tell her I'm in seclusion." In the land of fast food and flat screens, one man dares to seek enlightenment-and maybe a little immortality-between yoga studios and Silicon Valley startups.

[Bauhinia Legacy Series, Book 3] The Jewel of the Orient isn't all that true to its name - most inhabitants of Hong Kong never get to enjoy the high-end splendor the city boasts. Yeung Tze Yan is more than eager to return to the city she calls home, but she has become nothing but a forgotten name in her family's triad organization, the Bauhinias. Her unexpected return sends a wave of shock throughout the household. Under the lead of her fearsome father, the Bauhinias have gained notoriety over the years, but Yan's brother Hak Keung is eager to take charge. Feeling determined to be recognized, Yan decides to collect intel about the Bauhinias through her passion for cosmetics and fashion, exchanging innocuous disguises for gossip and heist locations. Through her small business, she learns about her brother's malicious - yet rightful - intention to take over the Bauhinias. It doesn't help that Yan must care for a young prodigy orphan who shows up by her shop window one day, begging to join the triad. After Hak Keung's takeover, the tantalizing call for power and greed slowly takes root in his mind. Yan must make dangerous decisions that could change her life forever. Secrets become as precious as currency, and Yan must learn to balance the fabrics of fate in her hands. Will fashion be her escape or her end? Will she be able to navigate between silhouettes and shades of gray? Above all, if there's one thing clear to Yan, it's that all that glitters is not gold. --- The prequel to Amelia's action-packed world in 'The Cantonesia Caper' has arrived. Dive into Aunt Yan's treacherous tale of the spaces in between black and white... Note: Can be read as a standalone. --- ONC Prompts used: #13, 67, 95 --- Accolades: 🏅Honorable Mention: The Nova Nexus #GirlPower Awards 2024

College kid, Jin Chung, always wanted to become a writer ever since he was little. His dream followed him through childhood on the streets of inner city Oakland, college life in Berkeley City College, and eventually young adult life in the Bay Area. When he met the girl of his dream, Sophie Kei, a yoga instructor, his life was forever changed. This novel followed his pursuit of dreams, pursuit of love, hope, peace, and everything in between.....