Training Days

Training for adulthood is not for wimps.
When you are eleven years old, is there anything more humiliating, or bound to cause a fight, than shopping with your mother when your body is in full-throttle warp? Yes, there is: picking out the school-required underwear. Or worse, your mother's male co-worker shows up at the scene. Or even worse: your brother wants to TALK about it at the dinner table.
Rites-of-passage are difficult for any young girl, and Jun-li Lin is no exception. The grown-ups in her life are completely unpredictable, and probably out of control. She knows it will take detective-work to figure out her family's secrets and erratic ways. It's up to her to find a way to bring the family together before everyone drifts apart.
Training to be an adult, Jun-li discovers, is hard work.

May-lee Chai is the author of ten books, including the memoir Hapa Girl, a Kiriyama Prize Notable Book; the novel Dragon Chica; and the sequel Tiger Girl, which won an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. Most recently, Chai received the 2017 Doris Bakwin Award for writing by women. She teaches at San Francisco State University.