Rent a Boyfriend - Gloria Chao Page 0,84

Samira Ahmed, Jilly Gagnon, Maddy Colis—you’ve made Chicago feel even more like home. A special hug to Claribel Ortega for your generosity and support, always. Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, for being the first two in the industry to believe in me (and Mei) and for your priceless wisdom along the way. A shout-out to Zoraida Córdova, who so kindly helped me with my cover reveal—thank you! Janice Zawodny, for showing me the beauty of dance and making me fall in love with it in a way I never thought possible. Thank you to the friends who supported me when I decided to change careers—you know who you are!

The Electric Eighteens, for your advice and encouragement. Class2K18, for your friendship and promotional help. The Kidlit AOC group, for your support and commitment to diversity. The We Need Diverse Books organization, for all the important work you do. Team Krush, you are as supportive as you are talented, and I’m proud to be a part of this loving family. Hugs and Kisses to ChiYA & my Awesome Authors Support Group.

Thank you to the lovely folks who were kind enough to read pages and provide feedback throughout this process, including: Whitley Abell, Christa Heschke, Jen Linnan, Sandy Lu, Myrsini Stephanides, Janine Le, Ella Kennen, Ronni Davis Selzer, Lisa Schunemann, Gracie West, Rachel León, Tamara Mataya, Roselle Lim, Katie McCoach, Naomi Hughes, Kevin Winn, Laura Heffernan, the AYAP Workshop.

Thank you so much, Tong Chen, Youqin Wang, and Jin Zhang, for your help with the pinyin in this novel and for not asking why I had so many phrases about poop. Thank you, Koichiro Ito, for verifying the Japanese.

A huge thank-you to the wonderful librarians, booksellers, bloggers, and teachers out there putting books into the hands of readers who need them. An extra hug to the Chicago indie bookstores who have been so welcoming and supportive! And a special thank-you to Franny Billingsley, who I’m honored to call a friend, and Rachel Strolle, whose love of books is inspiring.

And a loving thank-you to my family: my grandparents, for their love, support, and stories. Dan and Matt, for helping me find the humor in stinky tofu, shrimp oil, and old Chinese songs growing up. Remember how we used to lock ourselves in a room, towels stuffed under the door, whenever Mom and Dad cooked stinky tofu?

Mom and Dad, for supporting my dreams and education. Oh, and thanks for the material. ;) Mom, I’m so grateful this book brought us so close. I don’t know what I’d do without your support and love. Thank you for helping me with this book and for sharing your experiences and thoughts. I’m so happy I know you, really know you, now.

Anthony, there are no words for me to tell you what you mean to me. Thank you for believing in me before I did. For inspiring me. For reading a thousand drafts. For loving Mei like I do. For loving me more than anyone deserves. And of course, thank you for putting a roof over my head and feeding me and all that other important stuff while I typed-typed-typed into the night. You are my home, my hero, and my better half. *hip-level wave* (It works, people!)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

GLORIA CHAO is an MIT grad turned dentist turned writer. She currently lives in Chicago with her ever-supportive husband, for whom she became a nine-hole golfer (sometimes seven). She is always up for cooperative board games, Dance Dance Revolution, or soup dumplings. She was also once a black belt in kung fu and a competitive dancer, but that side of her was drilled and suctioned out. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at gloriachao.wordpress.com.

SIMON PULSE

Simon & Schuster, New York

Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen

Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Gloria-Chao

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse hardcover edition February 2018

SIMON PULSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Jacket designed by Sarah Creech

Interior designed by Tom Daly

The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jacket designed by Sarah Creech

Names: Chao, Gloria, author.

Title: American panda / by Gloria Chao.

Description: First Simon Pulse hardcover edition. | New York : Simon Pulse, 2018. | Summary: A freshman at MIT, seventeen-year-old Mei Lu tries to live up to her

Taiwanese parents’ expectations, but no amount of tradition, obligation, or guilt prevent her from hiding several truths—that she is squeamish with germs and cannot become a doctor, she prefers dancing to biology, she decides to reconnect with her estranged older brother, and she is dating a Japanese boy.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017014314 (print) | LCCN 2017045891 (eBook) |

ISBN 9781481499125 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481499101 (hardcover)

Subjects: | CYAC: Taiwanese Americans—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction. |

Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.C4825 (eBook) |

LCC PZ7.1.C4825 Am 2018 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017014314

Rent a Boyfriend - Gloria Chao Page 0,84

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