Kat Zhang (born 1 April 1991) is an American award-winning author of

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

and

middle grade Middle grade literature is literature intended for children between the ages of 8 and 12. While these books are sometimes grouped together with books for other age bands and collectively called "children's books", middle grade is distinct from pict ...

literature. She has also written two picture books, ''Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao'' and ''Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon''. Her first trilogy, ''The Hybrid Chronicles'', was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in the United States. According to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

, the series is held in 2,545 libraries, and has been translated into Chinese, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Polish and Italian. The first volume, '' What's Left of Me'', was published in 2012; the second volume, ''Once We Were'', was published in 2013; and the third and final volume, ''Echoes of Us,'' was published in 2014.

Personal life

Zhang was born in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to immigrants from China. Her father was from

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, and her mother from

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

. Zhang graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Writings

''Young Adult novels''

''Hybrid Chronicles'' ''trilogy''

*'' What's Left of Me'' (2012) *''Once We Were'' (2013) *''Echoes of Us'' (2014)

''Middle Grade novels''

*''The Emperor's Riddle'' (2017) *''The Memory of Forgotten Things'' (2018)

''Picture Books''

* ''Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao (2019)'' *''Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon (2020)'' *''Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome (2022)'' *''Amy Wu and the Ribbon Dance (2023)''

''The Hybrid Chronicles''

''Hybrid Chronicles'' series is set in an alternate universe society in which every body possesses two '

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s' or human identities at birth. One of these identities, termed the "recessive soul," is supposed to fade away with age. Those who retain both souls are labelled 'hybrids' and are ostracized from normal society. The series' protagonists are Addie and Eva, the dominant and recessive souls respectively, who inhabit the same body. The girls hide the presence of Eva, who has lost control of their shared body but never completely faded, for fear of what might happen if they were ever discovered. Over the course of the trilogy, the girls are at first institutionalized for their hybrid nature, then join a resistance force for hybrid rights. The Hybrid Chronicles Trilogy includes ''What's Left of Me'' (2012), ''Once We Were (''2013), and ''Echoes of Us'' (2014).

Middle grade novels

''The Emperor's Riddle'', Zhang's first Middle Grade novel, is set in

, China. It describes the adventures of a Chinese-American girl as she searches for an ancient,

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

treasure. The book details the legends involving the assassination of Chinese emperor

Zhu Yunwen The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – probably 13 July 1402), personal name Zhu Yunwen, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Huizong of Ming and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Hui of Ming, was the second emperor of the Ming d ...

, the second emperor of the Ming dynasty, and touches on the events of the

Chinese cultural revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. Zhang's second middle grade novel, ''The Memory of Forgotten Things'', is a return to science fiction. The twelve-year-old protagonist, Sophia Wallace, has memories of her deceased mother that don't make sense, memories that take place after her mother's death. She believes that an upcoming

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

will allow her to cross over into a parallel world where her mother never died.

Reception

''The Hybrid Chronicles'' has received generally positive reception from several websites. The first in the trilogy, '' What's Left of Me'', was chosen as a 2012 BEA Buzz book and given a starred review on ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. It was positively reviewed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. In 2017, ''The Emperor's Riddle'' won an honorable mention for the NCTA's Freeman Award. It also won a Parent's Choice Award. ''The Memory of Forgotten Things'' was selected as a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year. The first Amy Wu picture book, ''Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao'', received a starred review from ''Kirkus'', and was a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2019. It was also chosen as a First and Best 2019 book by the

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Kat 1991 births Living people American writers of young adult literature American writers of Chinese descent 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers Novelists from Texas Vanderbilt University alumni