Awards

• Commended for Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Young Adult Literature) 2019

Overview

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life. Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

Full Product Details

9781549197123

Table of Contents

Reviews

[A] beautiful, magical journey into the heart of grief. -- ""Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author"" Any suicide is a painful one for the survivors. But here is where Pan's novel shines most. She never shies away from the awful questions that are left in the wake of such a loss...What emerges is a story about love with all its limitations and complications and the story of how a girl and her passions can survive it. -- ""New York Times Book Review"" Captures the uncertain, unmoored feeling of existing between worlds-culturally, linguistically, ethnically, romantically, and existentially-it is also about seeking hope and finding beauty even in one's darkest hours. -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" Dynamic, brave Leigh emerges vividly in Pan's deft hand, and her enthralling journey through her grief glows with stunning warmth, strength, and resilience. -- ""Booklist (starred review)"" Inventive and heart-wrenching. -- ""Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author"" Narrator Stephanie Hsu gives color to the vivid palette Leigh uses to describe senses and emotions...Hsu finds a balance of wonder and anguish as Leigh explores her family's past through increasingly mystical experiences..Leigh and her friends have just the right touches of youthful snark and flattened tones, while Taiwan is full of bright bursts of Mandarin. -- ""AudioFile"" Pan travels between the past and present beautifully in this lightly magical and deeply emotional book about grief, family connection, and first love...Highly recommended. -- ""BookRiot"" Pan's writing takes readers on a journey filled with so much emotion, color, and such well-developed characters with a touch of magic, readers will come to the ending drained and fulfilled at the same time...[This] novel is not to be missed. -- ""School Library Journal (starred review)"" Portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. -- ""John Green, New York Times bestselling author"" Sprinkled with magical realism and achingly beautiful passages, Pan crafts a brilliant, lyrical, heartfelt, and astounding debut about grief, love, and the complexity of family relationships. -- ""BuzzFeed"" The novel is steeped in its Taiwanese setting...[with] an undeniable message about the power of hope and inner strength. -- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)"" This hefty YA novel clocks in at nearly 500 pages, and I still wanted it to be longer. It's a heartbreaking story about family, friends, and love, all crafted with a splash of magic. -- ""Paste""

This hefty YA novel clocks in at nearly 500 pages, and I still wanted it to be longer. It's a heartbreaking story about family, friends, and love, all crafted with a splash of magic. -- Paste Sprinkled with magical realism and achingly beautiful passages, Pan crafts a brilliant, lyrical, heartfelt, and astounding debut about grief, love, and the complexity of family relationships. -- BuzzFeed Narrator Stephanie Hsu gives color to the vivid palette Leigh uses to describe senses and emotions...Hsu finds a balance of wonder and anguish as Leigh explores her family's past through increasingly mystical experiences..Leigh and her friends have just the right touches of youthful snark and flattened tones, while Taiwan is full of bright bursts of Mandarin. -- AudioFile Pan's writing takes readers on a journey filled with so much emotion, color, and such well-developed characters with a touch of magic, readers will come to the ending drained and fulfilled at the same time...[This] novel is not to be missed. -- School Library Journal (starred review) Dynamic, brave Leigh emerges vividly in Pan's deft hand, and her enthralling journey through her grief glows with stunning warmth, strength, and resilience. -- Booklist (starred review) Any suicide is a painful one for the survivors. But here is where Pan's novel shines most. She never shies away from the awful questions that are left in the wake of such a loss...What emerges is a story about love with all its limitations and complications and the story of how a girl and her passions can survive it. -- New York Times Book Review Portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. -- John Green, New York Times bestselling author Captures the uncertain, unmoored feeling of existing between worlds-culturally, linguistically, ethnically, romantically, and existentially-it is also about seeking hope and finding beauty even in one's darkest hours. -- Kirkus Reviews Pan travels between the past and present beautifully in this lightly magical and deeply emotional book about grief, family connection, and first love...Highly recommended. -- BookRiot The novel is steeped in its Taiwanese setting...[with] an undeniable message about the power of hope and inner strength. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Inventive and heart-wrenching. -- Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author [A] beautiful, magical journey into the heart of grief. -- Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author

Captures the uncertain, unmoored feeling of existing between worlds-culturally, linguistically, ethnically, romantically, and existentially-it is also about seeking hope and finding beauty even in one's darkest hours. -- Kirkus Reviews This hefty YA novel clocks in at nearly 500 pages, and I still wanted it to be longer. It's a heartbreaking story about family, friends, and love, all crafted with a splash of magic. -- Paste Sprinkled with magical realism and achingly beautiful passages, Pan crafts a brilliant, lyrical, heartfelt, and astounding debut about grief, love, and the complexity of family relationships. -- BuzzFeed Pan travels between the past and present beautifully in this lightly magical and deeply emotional book about grief, family connection, and first love...Highly recommended. -- BookRiot Narrator Stephanie Hsu gives color to the vivid palette Leigh uses to describe senses and emotions...Hsu finds a balance of wonder and anguish as Leigh explores her family's past through increasingly mystical experiences..Leigh and her friends have just the right touches of youthful snark and flattened tones, while Taiwan is full of bright bursts of Mandarin. -- AudioFile Pan's writing takes readers on a journey filled with so much emotion, color, and such well-developed characters with a touch of magic, readers will come to the ending drained and fulfilled at the same time...[This] novel is not to be missed. -- School Library Journal (starred review) The novel is steeped in its Taiwanese setting...[with] an undeniable message about the power of hope and inner strength. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Dynamic, brave Leigh emerges vividly in Pan's deft hand, and her enthralling journey through her grief glows with stunning warmth, strength, and resilience. -- Booklist (starred review) Any suicide is a painful one for the survivors. But here is where Pan's novel shines most. She never shies away from the awful questions that are left in the wake of such a loss...What emerges is a story about love with all its limitations and complications and the story of how a girl and her passions can survive it. -- New York Times Book Review Inventive and heart-wrenching. -- Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author Portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. -- John Green, New York Times bestselling author [A] beautiful, magical journey into the heart of grief. -- Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

Emily X. R. Pan was born in the Midwestern United States to immigrant parents from Taiwan. She received her MFA degree in fiction from the New York University creative writing program, where she was a Goldwater Fellow. She is the founding editor-in-chief of Bodega Magazine and a 2017 artist-in-residence at Djerassi. Stephanie Hsu is a voice artist and audiobook narrator.

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