Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions

by Henry Lien

Overview

"It's Hermione Granger meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets the Ice Capades meets Mean Girls." —The New York Times
"Takes on weighty and relevant questions of gender, ability, leadership, immigration... with intelligence, deftness and precision." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
Now in her Second Year at Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword, Peasprout Chen strives to reclaim her place as a champion of wu liu, the sport of martial arts figure skating. But, with the new year comes new competition, and Peasprout's dreams are thwarted by an impressive transfer student.
Yinmei is the heir to the Shinian throne and has fled her country for Pearl. When she excels both academically and socially, Peasprout begins to suspect that Yinmei is not a refugee at all but a spy. When the Empress of Shin threatens to invade the city of Pearl, Peasprout makes a bold decision. To keep her enemy close, Peasprout joins Yinmei's "battleband," a team that executes elaborate skating configurations that are part musical spectacle, part defensive attack.
In Henry Lien's Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, Peasprout guides her battleband on a mission to save Pearl, and learns what it truly means to be a leader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250165763
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	03/14/2025
Series:	Peasprout Chen , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	381
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Henry Lien is a 2012 graduate of Clarion West, and his short fiction has appeared in publications like Asimov's, earning multiple Nebula Award nominations. Born in Taiwan, Henry currently lives in Hollywood, California. He is the author of Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword Audiobook:

"Delivers all the joys of a classic new-kid-at-school story. . . . Wu liu may be an invented martial art, but Lien's descriptions of fantastically beautiful complicated moves and spins will doubtless inspire many young readers to wish it were real." —Parents' Choice Foundation

"The narrator, Nancy Wu, finds just the right blade edge between girlish naïveté and brashness for our protagonist" —New York Times

"Massively entertaining...Peasprout Chen is a future legend, indeed." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Wu glides deftly through the narration with distinct characterizations...This unique heroine will skate into the hearts of middle-grade listeners." —Booklist, Starred Review

"The narrator, Nancy Wu, finds just the right blade edge between girlish naïveté and brashness for our protagonist, who isn’t about to be cowed by teenage queen bees or distracted by romance, and who registers her near-constant displeasure with epithets like “Ten thousand years of stomach gas!”" -New York Times

"[Nancy] Wu glides deftly through the narration with distinct characterizations. ...Wu’s pacing is flawless, slow and thoughtful or tense and fast when the story’s action calls for it. In competition scenes, especially, Wu shines, imparting a breathlessness listeners can feel. ...By turns funny and serious, Peasprout Chen tackles tough subjects: immigration, family, and hard choices. This unique heroine will skate into the hearts of middle-grade listeners." -Booklist, Starred Review

"With dazzling versatility, narrator Nancy Wu immerses listeners in this complex East Asian-inspired fantasy about a martial arts legend in the making. ...Wu's narration captures Peasprout's every nuance—hubristic yet vulnerable, snarky yet sincere—alongside character voices that range from subtly accented to all-out caricature. Peppered with breathless wu liu action and bookended by original music, this memorable performance will leave listeners hoping for a sequel." -AudioFile, Earphones Award Winner

From the Publisher

★ 2018-11-26

Facing possible deportation, imminent war, and a nest of "usually benevolent but now vicious coiling water dragons," Chen Peasprout and her friends skate into full gear.

Entering her second year at Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword, Peasprout is still reeling from the discoveries of Book 1—and readers new to the series should start there. Charming classmate Hisashi returns to Pearl with the mysterious Wu Yinmei, allegedly seeking refuge from her great-great-grandmother, the ruthless Shinian Empress Dowager. As the school transforms into a military academy, the three students, along with Peasprout's best friend, Doi, and brainy younger brother, Cricket, join forces (team name: Nobody and the Fire-Chickens) to outwit their classmates and defend Pearl. Lien hits his stride in this second installment, as the series' many narrative threads begin to coalesce. The Asian-inspired fantasy, with its presumably all-Asian (or fantasy equivalent) cast, takes on weighty and relevant questions of gender, ability, leadership, immigration, conservation of natural resources, national identity, and political change with intelligence, deftness, and precision. Romances, including one between two girls, are realistically awkward (but maybe less realistically chaste—though they are still in their early teens) while the friendships, sibling relationships, and rivalries continue to provide the story's emotional core. And Peasprout is its snarky, brilliant, hilarious, and utterly human heart. Readers, who have to wait for the next volume to see what happens next, will echo one of Peasprout's favorite imprecations: "Ten thousand years of stomach gas."

A riveting second act. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews