Amy Tan

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Tan, a memoir about finding meaning in life through acts of creativity and imagination. As seen on PBS American Masters "Unintended Memoir."

In Where the Past Begins, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and The Valley of Amazement Amy Tan reveals the ways that our memories and personal experiences can inform our creative work. Drawing on her vivid impressions of her upbringing,

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Violet is one of the most celebrated courtesans in Shanghai, a beautiful and intelligent woman who has honed her ability to become any man's fantasy since her start as a "Virgin Courtesan" at the age of twelve. Half-Chinese and half-American, she moves effortlessly between the East and the West. But her talents belie her private struggle to understand who she really is and her search for a home in the world. Abandoned by her mother, Lucia, and uncertain...

Set in contemporary San Francisco and in a Chinese village the story is an excavation of the human spirit: the past, it's deepest wounds, it's most profound hopes. Over the course of one fog-shrouded year, between one season of falling stars and the next, mother and daughter find what they share in their bones through heredity, history, and inexpressible qualities of love.

A naughty white kitten, Sagwa, comes from a long line of royal Chinese cats. Her mischief changes the spirit of a cruel magistrate and helps shape the future for her ancestors. This beautiful story illustrates why Siamese cats are really Chinese cats and why their faces, ears, paws, and tails turn darker as they grow up Read by the author, Amy Tan's light, airy voice enchants listeners of all ages with this charming bedtime story.

Three bored sisters on a rainy afternoon make wish after wish- for the rain to stop, to play in the puddles- something, anything. Capturing their attention, their grandmother recounts a mesmerizing childhood memory of a magical night long ago when secret wishes came true. She relates what happened when Ying-ying was seven and celebrating the Moon Festival in China. On that long-ago night of the Moon Festival, she encountered...

A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club • With a foreword by David Allen Sibley
“Unexpected and spectacular” —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These Precious Days
"The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a...

From the author of A Kind of Paradise comes a beautiful and heartfelt middle grade novel for fans of Ali Standish and Sally J. Pla, about a girl who finds comfort in the warm traditions and unexpected friendships of summer camp. Vic Brown did not want to go to camp this summer. Even though it’s nice being back with her friends at Meadow Wood, Vic still can’t forget about the secret reason her mom wanted her and her brother out of the house—or...