Private Label

The Devil Wears Prada meets Far from the Tree in #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang’s powerful love story about two teens searching for their place in the world.

Serene dreams of making couture dresses even more stunning than her mom’s, but for now she’s an intern at her mom’s fashion label. When her mom receives a sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, all that changes. Serene has to take over her mother’s business overnight while trying to figure out what happened with her dad in Beijing. He left before she was born, and Serene wants to find him, even if it means going against her mom’s one request—never look back.

Lian Chen moved from China to Serene’s mostly white Southern California beach town a year ago. He doesn’t fit in at school, where kids mispronounce his name. His parents don’t care about what he wants to do—comedy—and push him toward going to MIT engineering early. Lian thinks there’s nothing to stick around for until one day he starts a Chinese Club after school . . . and Serene walks in.

Worlds apart in the high school hierarchy, Serene and Lian soon find refuge in each other, falling in love as they navigate life-changing storms.

* Junior Library Guild Selection * A Common Sense Selection *

Can their newfound love survive her family tragedy and his personal fight for the future?

• Opposites Attract: She’s a fashion insider living in the spotlight; he’s a new kid from China who feels invisible. Their connection is as unexpected as it is powerful.
• A Story of Grief and First Love: Serene’s world is upended by her mother’s cancer diagnosis, forcing her to confront the possibility of loss while opening her heart for the first time.
• Family Secrets and Identity: While navigating her mother’s illness, Serene searches for the father she never knew. At the same time, Lian defies his parents’ expectations to chase his own dream of becoming a comedian.
• Chinese American Romance: A heartfelt and poignant story that explores the complexities of family, culture, and finding your own voice in a world that doesn’t always understand you.