Ying Chang Compestine (born March 8, 1963) is a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

author, speaker, television host and chef. She has written over twenty books including '' Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (novel)'', based on her life growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution., and a

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

, ''Morning Sun in Wuhan'', set in Wuhan, China.

Biography

Ying Chang Compestine was born and raised in Wuhan, China. Her family was considered "

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

," so the Red Guard took her family's belongings and her father was put in jail twice. Because of the family's difficulties, Compestine was sent to live with her grandparents. Compestine earned a degree in English and American literature and taught English in China. She also worked as an interpreter for China's Bureau of Seismology. Compestine graduated with a master's degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1990. She met her husband just before she finished graduate school.

Career

After immigrating to the United States, Compestine taught sociology and writing at universities in both the U.S. and China. Compestine has received various education awards including the Master Teacher Award from both Front Range Community College (1991-1992) and the International School of Beijing (2000). Compestine has hosted several cooking shows on Chinese Language News Broadcaster for Phoenix North America Chinese Channel, as well as appearing as a guest on the Food Network,

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, and

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

. She also worked a food editor for Martha Stewart’s ''

Body + Soul ''Whole Living'' was a health and lifestyle magazine geared towards "natural health, personal growth, and well-being," a concept the publishers refer to as "whole living." The magazine became a part of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in August ...

'' magazine and is a contributor for Cooking Light, EatingWell, Self, and Men's Health. Compestine is also a spokesperson for '' Nestle'' and ''

Celestial Seasonings Celestial Seasonings is an American tea company based in Boulder, Colorado, United States, that specializes in herbal teas (properly called "tisanes"), but also sells green, white, black, and chai teas. As of 2006, the company's annual gross s ...

''.

Writing career

Compestine began writing after her son was born, creating the cookbook, ''Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking'' (1997). She began writing children's books after her parents died, because she missed China and her family. Since then she has written numerous children's books, and is actively writing today. Her book ''

Revolution is Not a Dinner Party Revolution is not a dinner party, or making revolution is not inviting people over for dinner, is a phrase coined by Mao Zedong. It is taken from Mao's essay titled ''Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan'' written in 1927 ...

'' (2007) is based on her life growing up in China. The book has been featured on several lists, such as the 2008 American Library Association's (ALA) Best Books for Young Readers, and Publishers Weekly's best children's books for 2007. Compestine co-authored '' Secrets of The Terra Cotta Soldier'', with her son Vinson in 2014. Her children's book ''The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes'' (2018) illustrated by David Roberts, has received praise from '' Publishers Weekly'', '' The Guardian'', and '' The San Francisco Chronicle''. It was rated as one of the "best new picture books" by ''The Children's Book Review'' in 2018. She has an upcoming middle grade novel, ''Morning Sun in Wuhan''. Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, will publish the novel, which has received praise from readers and literary organizations such as Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. She has two upcoming picture books: ''Little Red Riding Hood and the Dragon'', a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

retelling set in China, and ''Dragon Noodle Party''.

Publications

* ''The Chinese Red Riding Hood''. Abrams Books for Young Readers. Release date: 2021 * ''D is for Dragon Dance (Chinese/English bilingual edition)''. Holiday House. Release date: Fall 2018 * ''Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (German translation)''. Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart. Release date: Summer 2018 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Awards

References

External links

Ying Chang Compestine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compestine, Ying Chang 1963 births Living people American motivational speakers American historical novelists American people of Chinese descent American cookbook writers American children's writers 21st-century Chinese women writers 20th-century Chinese women writers 21st-century Chinese writers 20th-century Chinese writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women Women cookbook writers