I’m so excited about this new anthology that is coming out this fall! I cant wait to share it with all of you!! We Need Diverse Books is thrilled to announce our latest anthology, ON THE BLOCK, which follows the interconnected lives of multigenerational immigrant families residing within the same apartment building. The book will be released on October 22, 2024, from Crown Books for Young Readers. The narratives follow the lives of multigenerational immigrant families residing within the apartment building, including a new kid on the block, a Popsicle-bridge builder, a ghost hunter, a lion dancer — and their families, friends, and neighbors from all around the world.

“In reading the stories in On the Block, I found myself thinking back to the many wonderful things I learned as part of that community. The stories in this book are interrelated stories, much the way people in a building are interrelated neighbors. The narrators share an address, but they also intersect in other more interesting ways with the people who live on the other side of their living room walls. They all call their building space home. And the beauty of their shared home does not come from any single person, but instead from the sum of their experiences. I hope you’ll enjoy peeking in the apartment windows (metaphorically, of course) as much as I did,” said Meg Medina.

The collection is edited by WNDB CEO Ellen Oh and features stories by Tracey Baptiste, David Bowles, Adrianna Cuevas, Sayantani DasGupta, Debbi Michiko Florence, Adam Gidwitz, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Ellen Oh, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Andrea Wang, and Jasmine Warga. “We can’t wait for readers to discover On the Block, a celebration of immigrant life and what it means to find your home,” said Ellen Oh. “Not only is this book a perfect companion to our first anthology, Flying Lessons and Other Stories, but these collections feature inclusive stories that are both timely and timeless.”

WNDB has published four other critically acclaimed anthologies with Crown Books for Young Readers, including FRESH INK, THE HERO NEXT DOOR, and A UNIVERSE OF WISHES. The organization’s first collection, FLYING LESSONS AND OTHER STORIES, was edited by Ellen Oh and received four industry starred reviews. Since 2016, WNDB has sent thousands of copies of FLYING LESSONS and its other anthologies to students in need nationwide. WNDB remains committed to providing diverse literature to all readers.

Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee is out in the world!!

@theellenoh

When readers remind me that i wrote a romance and are demanding more. #collidingworldsofminalee #yaromance #booktok #marrymyhusbandsoundtrack

♬ The Journey – Kelley McRae

Happy 2024 Year of the Dragon!

I’m excited that my new YA release, COLLIDING WORLDS OF MINA LEE, is out this January 23rd! Cover art by the fabulous Audrey Mok! And I have some preorder swag for those of you interested in getting some exclusive CW content! It includes:

1. Two character stickers – art by the youngest Oh who is a webtoon artist and you can see his 2 brilliant webcomics here.
2. A beautiful art card by the amazing Kelly Wang who was also the brilliant illustrator of my Dragon Egg Princess character cards. She out did herself this time with this gorgeous art piece playing off the aha Take on Me video which is the inspiration of CW.
3. A signed bookplate made to look like the tablet Mina draws on designed by my brilliant youngest Oh.

To enter for this exclusive preorder swag, all you have to do is preorder Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee from the following:

1. Preorder from my local indie the amazing Loyalty Bookstore in Washington, DC for a signed copy of CW as well as all of the swag!
2. Preorder from the wonderful Belmont Books in Boston, MA for a signed bookplate and swag!

Preorder now while supplies last!

My TedxTalk can be watched here.

What a wonderful experience to present with these brilliant, amazing women who all killed it! It was a lot of work and stress but well worth it to have listened and laughed along with a wonderful supportive audience. I will be forever grateful to have had this opportunity. You can watch all of these fantastic TedxTalks by searching for TedxBethesdaWomen 2023.

I’m doing a TedXTalk on October 12th at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD. There are still some tickets for a wonderful day of great talks and conversations.

I’m so excited that HARU ZOMBIE DOG HERO is out in the world! I’ve always wanted to write a zombie book, and I’ve always wanted to write a dog book. So of course I wrote  a zombie dog book! And I’m happy to be writing horror again but at the heart of Haru is a story about the love between a boy and his dog.

And if you read The Week Junior, I am proud to be an Author Ambassador this summer for their summer of reading program! I’m very grateful that they also shared a little bit of Haru!

Airports are where people and lives briefly touch, interact and then move on.  In these twelve interwoven short stories by different authors set in a Chicago airport, Asian–American children and teens interact with each other while awaiting flights.  Unfortunately, sometimes when they encounter other passengers these children are met with racism, leading to the overarching question: are you where you belong? This collection of powerful, yet funny stories is a great start to a conversation about both listening and speaking up in order to find one’s place in society.  

On April 26, at 10:30AM, I will be presenting at the Politics and Prose Bookstore on Connecticut Avenue, DC!  This event is free to attend and open to the public, however, reservations are required for school groups interested in attending. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis.

So grateful and honored by the wonderful reception our book YOU ARE HERE has garnered!

The New York Times did a wonderful review of YOU ARE HERE with fabulous art by the brilliant James Yang.

School Library Journal Starred Review – “This collection is not only important, but essential.”

PW Starred Review – “an intersectionally diverse, multifaceted collaboration that’s artfully conceived and executed.”

Booklist Starred Review – “The individual narratives are consistently engaging and rewarding, and together they form a unique collection of interconnected stories about young, contemporary Asian American characters.”

Kirkus Starred Review – “Compelling and nuanced.”

Bookpage Starred Review – “You Are Here vividly illustrates the talents of a diverse group of creators as well as the rich and varied range of Asian American experiences and identities.”

The launch event for YOU ARE HERE and the Allida imprint helmed by the brilliant Linda Sue Park, is happening this coming March 11th at 2pm at P&T Knitwear!

We are going to have a fabulous talk and sign copies and have a great time! It is a free event but sign up here to save your ticket! Come join me and Linda Sue Park, Grace Lin, and our amazing cover artist Marcos Chin in NYC!!  P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, New York NY

I’m excited to share the cover and full jacket art for You Are Here: Connecting Flights, cover by the brilliant Marcos Chin. The anthology will be released on March 7, 2023 by Allida/HarperCollins. Preorder it here. I am also extraordinarily proud and happy that You Are Here will be the inaugural title for the amazing Linda Sue Park’s Allida imprint! I know that all of the contributors are absolutely thrilled!

This full cover is particularly meaningful to all of us because Marcos brought all of our characters alive from front to back and it was truly the most joyous moment for all of us to see them like this! This book was an absolute labor of love and I truly hope that everyone will read it and love it as much as we do!

An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys crisscross and collide, they encounter fellow travelers–some helpful, some hostile–as they discover the challenges of friendship, the power of courage, the importance of the right word at the right time, and the unexpected significance of a blue Stratocaster electric guitar.

Twelve powerhouse Asian American authors explore themes of identity and belonging in the entwined experiences of young people whose family roots may extend to East and Southeast Asia, but who are themselves distinctly American.

Written by Linda Sue Park, Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, Traci Chee, Mike Chen, Meredith Ireland, Mike Jung, Minh Le, Ellen Oh, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and Susan Tan, and edited by Ellen Oh.