“Love Yourself: Trendsetters, K-Pop Stars & Old Flames”: Claire Ahn, Kat Cho & Natalia Sylvester

Claire Ahn grew up in Seoul, Korea, and still considers it her home. She moved to New York to attend university and now lives in Long Island City. She writes about transcultural experiences and the traditions, values, and legacies that shape who we are. In her debut novel, I Guess I Live Here Now (Viking Books for Young Readers), we meet Melody, who, following a tiny transgression after school one day, discovers that her parents have decided to move her and her mom out of New York City to join her father in Seoul – immediately. Melody barely has a chance to say goodbye to her best friend before she’s on a plane, and she’s resentful and homesick. But she soon finds herself settling into their super-luxe villa, meeting cool friends at school, and discovering the fascinating aspects of living in Korea: trendsetting fashion, delectable food, her dad’s black card, and a cute boy to come with her as she explores the city. Life in Seoul is terrific – until cracks begin to form on its shiny surface.

Kat Cho is the New York Times and international bestselling author of the Gumiho duology, Wicked Fox, and Vicious Spirits who loves to incorporate her Korean heritage in her writing. She is also the co-host of the Write or Die Podcast, where she interviews authors about the struggles of getting published and maintaining a writing career. In Once Upon a K-Prom (Disney-Hyperion), Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed – by her more successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, and her more outgoing best friend. And no, she has no interest in going to prom. She’d rather spend her time working to save the local community center, the one place that’s always made her feel like she belonged. But when Robbie Choi, a childhood best friend, now an international K-pop superstar, shows up at her house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever. He always accepted her as she is. But that was years ago. With his new K-pop persona, pink hair, and stylish clothes, Robbie is nothing like the sweet, goofy boy she remembers – and he comes with hordes of screaming fans, online haters, and relentless paparazzi.

Natalia Sylvester is the author of Running, her YA debut, as well as two novels for adults, Everyone Knows You Go Home, which won an International Latino Book Award, and Chasing the Sun. Born in Lima, Peru, she grew up in Miami, Central Florida, and South Texas. In Breathe and Count Back from Ten (Clarion Books), Verónica, a Peruvian American teen with hip dysplasia, yearns to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park the summer before her senior year. She’s also figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body. Verónica has had many surgeries to manage her disability and the best form of rehabilitation is swimming, so she spends hours in the pool – and not just to strengthen her body. She wants to audition for a place at Mermaid Cove, a kitschy underwater attraction in her hometown where professional mermaids perform in giant tanks. Her conservative Peruvian parents would never go for it, and they definitely would never let her be with Alex, her new neighbor. But Verónica decides it’s time to seize control of her life – and that’s when her plans come crashing down, as she learns her parents have been hiding the truth about her own body from her all along.