Kelly Yang (born August 29, 1984) is an Asian American writer and 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 children's literature. She won the 2019

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature (APAAL) are a set of literary awards presented annually by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA). The APALA was formed in 1980 "to create an organization that would address the n ...

of her novel, Front Desk and the 2018 Parents’ Choice Gold Medal for Fiction for her book ''

Front Desk A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title ''receptionist'' is attributed ...

'', a book based on her experiences as a 10-year-old working at her family's motel business.

Biography

Kelly Yang was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with her family when she was young. She skipped several grades and attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

at the age of 13 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. She then went on to

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and graduated at the age of 20. Despite graduating with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree, she decided not to practice law. Yang served as an editorial columnist for the

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

in Hong Kong from 2010 to 2018 and also founded an after-school writing program for children called The Kelly Yang Project. Yang's first book, ''

'', published in 2018, is for children and is based on her experience helping her parents manage motels while growing up. It was followed by five (soon to be six) sequels, ''Three Keys'' in 2020, ''Room to Dream'' in 2021, ''Key Player'' in 2022, and ''Top Story'' in 2023. Her

book ''Parachutes'' is about sexual misconduct at an elite private school, and based on her own experiences at Harvard Law School.

Personal life

Yang has three children: Tilden, Nina, and Elliot. She spends her time between San Francisco and Hong Kong. She now lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Bibliography

*''

'' (2019) * ''Three Keys'' (2020) * ''Parachutes'' (2020) *''Room to Dream'' (2021) *''New From Here'' (2022) *''Key Player'' (2022) *''Private Label'' (2022) *''Yes We Will'' (2022) *''Finally Seen'' (2023) *''Top Story'' (2023) *''Finally Heard'' (2023/2024) *''Chefs Secret'' (2025)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Kelly Created via preloaddraft Harvard Law School alumni University of California alumni Living people American women novelists 21st-century American women writers Hong Kong emigrants to the United States American writers of Chinese descent American children's writers 1984 births