Hapa Girl

May-lee Chai is the author of five books, My Lucky Face, The Girl from Purple Mountain (co-authored with Winberg Chai) and Glamorous Asians: Short Stories & Essays, and recipient of an NEA Grant in Literature.

"Hapa Girl is a searing memoir of growing up half-Chinese in the American heartland ... The writing is vigorous, and Chai's descriptions of the murderous winters and corrosive boredom of the Great Plains are compelling... Hapa Girl is a reminder that Americans cannot have too many reminders of the un-American things they do when they're afraid." Time magazine, Asia edition "I was captivated by May-lee Chai's Hapa Girl from the first sentence. It continued to be so powerful that I read it in one sitting. It's at once brutal and sad, humorous and plucky. Chai has beautifully captured the deep racism and bigotry that lurks in our country with how one misguided decision can change a family's fortunes forever. Hapa Girl made me think about the bonds of family and the vicissitudes of place long after I finished the last page." Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and The Secret Fan "A tour-de-force sojourn into a never-before-told zone of small-town American bigotry. Hapa Girl is consistently stylish, permanently courageous, bitingly tragic, but always rationally detached with a Marx Brothers' wit. This is May-lee Chai's best comment yet about America." Anthony B. Chan, author of Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wongo "Easily labeled a coming-of-age story or a narrative about racial tensions in 1960s America, this memoir-whose title employs the Hawaiian word for mixed-is truly an homage to a loving marriage. Only the strongest kind of love could survive the crucible of a community hoping for a family's failure. Highly recommended for all libraries with large memoir and Asian collections." Library Journal "May-Lee Chai's memoirHapa Girl examines living on the mainland, conservative South Dakota in particular, and the racial tensions that accompany it...Chai is best when painting hurtful moments from her life relating to the issue at hand...It could be a valuable resource for those seeking self-discovery on being of mixed race." June 6 issue of Honolulu Weekly

PrologueChapter 1: The Wearing of the GreenChapter 2: The Sexy Artist Meets the Boy From New York CityChapter 3: How to Charm a Mother-in-LawChapter 4: California Dreamin'Chapter 5: The BananaChapter 6: The Banana's RevengeChapter 7: Autumn in the CountryChapter 8: Hunting SeasonChapter 9: The Little ThingsChapter 10: The ClosetChapter 11: My Last ConfessionChapter 12: BugsChapter 13: The Fall of the PrinceChapter 14: The Jade TreeChapter 15: The Nights of Many PrayersChapter 16: What You Don't Know Can Hurt YouChapter 17: Stephen King HighChapter 18: BarbariansChapter 19: Glamour PussChapter 20: The CannibalsChapter 21: The Fine Art of Denial