"Maya almost didn’t hear her grandmother over the whir of the fan and the rumbling snores of Gizmo, the old and lazy pug dog squished by her side."
I have a new book out! Well, it's not quite a book book; it's an Audible Original audiobook. You can listen to it here!
I'm really excited about this book because it's one that took a while to find a home and it's also one that my dad, who passed away a year ago, helped with stories of his past in South Korea. The Golden Orchard is a middle grade fantasy fiction about food, family, memories, and time travel. And of course there's a pug in there!
The book is narrated by the fantastic Kathleen Choe. I insisted on a Korean American narrator and so her pronunciation of the Korean words in it is perfect!
Here's a description of the book and I really hope you'll like it!
Maya loves to cook with her grandmother—her Halmunee—to connect with the rich family history associated with each dish, a history Maya's mom would prefer stayed in the past. While cooking with her Halmunee one day, something remarkable happens: the food creates such a strong memory that it physically transports Maya and her Halmunee back in time into the memory itself. As her Halmunee explains, the women in her family have the gift of time travel through food—and Maya can do it too, if she practices. While eating her way through the past, Maya meets Jeff, another young time traveler who brings her to the Golden Orchard, a garden of memories filled with the trees of so many people's lives. Maya learns that time moves in ways she couldn't imagine, and sometimes families keep their memories secret to protect the ones they love.