Nov 3, 2020
Susie Yang joins Carol to discuss her debut novel, White
Ivy, which is the “Today Show Read With Jena” selection for
November.
Susie's main character, Ivy Lin, was born in China. Her parents
left her there and moved to the States, bringing her to join them
when she was five. When Ivy is accepted as a scholarship student at
the school where her father works, her goal is to fit in with
others enrolled there. Her grandmother has taught her to
shoplift from stores and yard sales to have the
trappings of other American teenagers. Her crush is on a wealthy
teen boy, Gideon Speyer whose father is a politician.
Ivy's parents disapprove of her trying to Americanize, and she is
sent back to China, which furthers her conflict with her family.
She crosses paths again with Gideon, and inserts herself into his
life, the way she'd always wanted. But she is challenged by an old
acquaintance who knows enough about her to tear her new-found world
apart.
The author Susie has lived around the world --- in fact she spoke
with Carol from Istanbul, where she is living this month. Her
peripatetic lifestyle contributed to her writing, as she has
moved so often. The two talk deeply about the characters in this
book, as well as the multi-step editing process that took this book
from first draft to publication.
Books discussed in this episode:
White Ivy by Susie Yang
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