What makes her a writer

東北師范大學 于海洋

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海詞積累

1.motel/m??'tel/n.汽車旅館

2.heroine/'her???n/n.女英雄；女主角

3.delve/delv/v.探索

4.sequel/'si?kw?l/n.續集；隨之而來的事

Kelly Yang was six years old when she immigrated from Hong Kong to the US.As a child,Yang worked at the front desk of the Californiamotelsher parents managed.Her experiences were often too miserable to share with classmates.

“Carrying around this secret was like carrying a big backpack,one I could never put down,except when I was in the library,”Yang says.

Although her parents said English was“the white kids’ language”, Yang dreamed of becoming a writer who writes novels in English.She started to write stories at the age of 12.She entered college at the age of 13 and graduated from the University of California before earning a degree at Harvard Law School.Yang gave up law to pursue her passion for writing.She worked as a columnist for theSouth China Morning Postbefore working as a novelist.

Since its publication in 2018,Front Deskhas won popular praise.The middle-grade novel has earned several honors,including the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature.

After readingFront Desk,I wanted to ask Yang about Mia,a braveheroinewho overcomes language barriers.Like Yang and Mia,I immigrated from Hong Kong to the US.

Yang encourages writers to practice their craft. “You can’t win if you don’t play,” she said.She added thatdelvinginto new territory with her own novel was frightening. “I was really scared of writing the book,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if the reactions were going to be positive,and I wasn’t sure if people were going to get it.”

Yang is glad that she was able to tell Mia’s story,and she hopes that she has inspired kids to follow her lead.“Write as much as you can,and constantly observe because that’s what’s going to make your writing shine,” she said.“Be curious about the world.It’s really important for an author to be out there and to interact with people.”

Yang follows her own advice.She just announced that asequeltoFront Deskwould be published next year.

Reading Check

1.What does the underlined words “this secret” in the second paragraph refer to?

A.The front desk. B.The terrible experiences.

C.The dream of becoming a writer. D.The immigration to the US.

2.What’s Yang’s hope now?

A.Selling more books.

B.Publishing a sequel next year.

C.Inspiring more kids to follow her lead.

D.Winning the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award.

Language Study

Sentences for writing

1.在閱讀《在前臺》后，我想問Yang關于Mia的事。Mia是一個克服了語言障礙的女主人公。

After readingFrontDesk,I wanted to askYang aboutMia, a brave heroine who overcomes__________.

2.她補充道，用她自己的小說去探索新領域是可怕的。

She added that __________new territory with her own novel was frightening.