Pan's debut novel, The Astonishing Color of After, was published by Little, Brown in March 2018 and debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List at #10. In 2010, while in grad school, she developed the idea for what would become her debut novel and kept rewriting and putting it aside in favor of different manuscripts. After graduation, she worked in digital advertising before getting accepted into NYU's Creative Writing program, where she became editor-in-chief at the Washington Square Review. Pan studied International Marketing at NYU Stern, where she graduated a semester early. By 15, she was querying literary agents to pursue publication. She attempted to write her first novel in second grade and ultimately finished her first novel for a sixth grade assignment at school. Her father is a professor at The College of New Jersey and her mother is a piano and guzheng teacher. Pan was born in Illinois and is the only child of Taiwanese parents who immigrated to the United States.

Pan is a New York Times Bestselling American author of young adult fiction, best known for her debut novel The Astonishing Color of After. 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.Īlternating 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.2017 Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult LiteratureĮmily X.R. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

This is a very special book.' (John Green, best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down )Ī stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.

Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor.

The astonishing color after