Parachutes

by Kelly Yang

Overview

Speak enters the world of Gossip Girl in this modern immigrant story from New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang about two girls navigating wealth, power, friendship, and trauma.

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California.

Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.

Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. But Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course when her debate coach starts working with her privately.

As they steer their own distinct paths, Dani and Claire keep crashing into one another, setting a course that will change their lives forever. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062941084
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	05/26/2020
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	83,358
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.70(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kelly Yang is the author of Front Desk, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature. She went to college at age thirteen and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is the founder of the Kelly Yang Project, a leading writing and debating program for children in Asia and the United States. She is also a columnist for the South China Morning Post and has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. Kelly is the mother of three children and splits her time between Hong Kong and San Francisco. Please find her online at www.kellyyang.com.

Editorial Reviews

Know this, weary readers: Parachutes is not a book about sexual violence or broken girls or the polluting forces of shame and isolation. It is about the radical possibility of young women finding and detonating their voices. In giving her characters permission to bravely unburden themselves of the vileness of their abusers and the systems that protect them, Yang takes a sledgehammer to rape culture itself, swinging with equal parts artistry and force.

The New York Times Book Review - Karen Valby

★ 04/13/2020

In her YA debut, Yang (Front Desk) draws from personal experience and the news to tell a contemporary story of class discrepancy, the pervasiveness of rape culture, and the Asian diaspora. Claire Wang, a high school junior living in Shanghai, is used to a life of luxury, while Filipina American Dani De La Cruz, a debate champ and Yale hopeful who is on a full scholarship at California’s American Preparatory, is living a completely different life, cleaning homes to help make ends meet. After receiving a bad grade, Claire is appalled when her parents transfer her to an American high school: Dani’s. American Prep is a magnet for parachutes, or “kids from China who come to the U.S. on our own,” often scions of wealthy families. When Dani’s mom rents out their spare room to an international student, the girls’ lives become twined, even as they chafe at the other’s socioeconomic misunderstandings. But when each girl experiences a traumatic incident, they learn about the devastating convergences of power, money, and male privilege. Despite occasionally flat side characters, this is a multifaceted read, by turns poignant, fun, and exultant in its celebration of the multitudinous experiences and strength inherent in diasporic identity. Ages 14–up. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners. (May)

Publishers Weekly

* “It’s the details that sing in this novel...This book will help foster empathy for the immigrant experience for young readers, while for immigrant children, it is a much-needed and validating mirror....Deserving of shelf space in every classroom and library.

Booklist (starred review)

Reminiscent of the television series Fresh Off the Boat... Basing the story on her own childhood experiences, Yang writes Mia’s dreams into reality without sacrificing or minimizing the heartbreaking realities of many immigrants’ hardships... there is much satisfaction in this book’s powerful and heart-wrenching close.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

★ 04/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—Dani, of Filipino descent and a scholarship student at a prestigious private school in Southern California, hopes to win a debate scholarship to Yale. To bring in some extra income, her mom rents out their spare room to an exchange student, Claire, one of many uber-wealthy students from China attending Dani's school. Although they live together, they have very different experiences at school. Through her part-time job as a house cleaner, Dani discovers how many of her classmates use their wealth to facilitate cheating and pay for opportunities she cannot access. Yang deftly weaves in parallels to recent real-life events, such as the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal and the Duke University email urging Chinese students to speak English. On top of these explorations of nationality and wealth is the realistically pervasive look at rape culture, from creepy host families and catcalling to a teacher sexually harassing a student and an actual rape. In short alternating chapters narrated by Dani and Claire, Yang creates a delicate balance between these heavier issues and the lighter moments of high school. The story seamlessly explores several difficult topics without veering into "issue-book" territory. The real feat comes at the end when Yang strikes a hopeful and powerful tone, despite the school's disappointing response to reports of sexual violence. VERDICT This is a powerful exploration of race, class, and power through multiple lenses, the most powerful being sexual harassment and rape. An engrossing read that will spark discussions on a wide range of issues.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

School Library Journal

2020-02-26
A wealthy Chinese teen is sent to America on her own to attend private school.

Claire is a rich 11th grader in Shanghai; Dani is a scholarship student at a private school in Southern California who helps her mother clean houses. When Claire is parachuted into America to finish high school and Dani’s mother needs the income from a boarder, they become unlikely housemates. Told in alternating voices, Yang’s YA debut tells two disparate narratives that overlap but, unfortunately, never truly connect. In one, Claire is swept off her feet by one of the cutest (and richest) boys in school—by his attention, his mansion, and his Lamborghini. Meanwhile, Dani, whose mother is Filipina and whose absent father’s ethnicity is unspecified, believes that securing a spot at an upcoming debate tournament will be her ticket to Yale. Her debate coach singles her out for attention but crosses the line into predatory behavior; Claire’s experiences are also traumatic. While these developments are heartbreaking, compelling, and ultimately empowering, they follow lengthy exposition and plotlines involving several secondary characters. Unfortunately, supporting characters are portrayed flatly, without true exploration, so each comes to represent a stereotype whose purpose seems to be teaching readers about a particular experience or point of view. Claire’s and Dani’s stories are much more nuanced, but the overall result is an uneven and lengthy read.

Important stories are overshadowed by too many subplots. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

[Parachutes] is about the radical possibility of young women finding and detonating their voices. Yang takes a sledgehammer to rape culture itself, swinging with equal parts artistry and force. If this were a television series it would look fabulous and land deep.

New York Times Book Review

"Yang has created two distinct and vibrant voices that shimmer with passion for both justice and independence... The convincing narrative, told in alternating first-person perspectives, confronts pervasive and xenophobic stereotypes, with secondary characters’ complex identities adding depth and emotion to the story."

Horn Book Magazine

In this noteworthy, immensely enjoyable novel, Kelly Yang (Front Desk) tackles some of the systemic inequalities that foster racism, misogyny and sexual assault. She convincingly brings to light ways in which victims are often judged more harshly than their aggressors, but also provides a template for change. Yang dives with aplomb into issues of opulence and poverty, power and impotence.

Shelf Awareness

Parachutes is not just a searing drama that explores the lives of Asians in America, it’s a courageous, empowering story about how high women can soar when they lift each other up.

Stacey Lee

"Yang writes astutely about the destabilizing combination of family expectations, copious wealth, and absence of adult supervision. She’s also sharply perceptive about the class and race complexities of a community that contains rich Asian visitors and American-born Asians, great wealth and straitened circumstances... A spirited slice of cultural life and story of girls facing cruel inequities, and Yang’s compelling author’s note about parachutes and her own experience of being sexually assaulted adds another poignant facet."

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Reminiscent of the television series Fresh Off the Boat... Basing the story on her own childhood experiences, Yang writes Mia’s dreams into reality without sacrificing or minimizing the heartbreaking realities of many immigrants’ hardships... there is much satisfaction in this book’s powerful and heart-wrenching close.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Front Desk is a story about the hardships of immigrant life, the perpetuation of injustice, and a sweet, kind, indomitable young girl who chooses to rise up and fight no matter how hard it gets. Kelly Yang’s debut is a stunner.

Mike Jung

“Parachutes is a force. As fast-paced as it is powerful, its story of immigration, social class, and rape culture calls out the damaging consequences of privilege in ways that will make readers want to speak up and take action.” 

Randy Ribay

Awards and Praise for Front Desk: Asian / Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature
Parents’ Choice Gold Medal Fiction Award Winner
Named a Best Book of the Year by:
NPR
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Washington Post
Amazon
School Library Journal
Bookpage
New York Public Library
Chicago Public Library
Top Ten Debut Novels 2018

ALA Booklist

* “It’s the details that sing in this novel...This book will help foster empathy for the immigrant experience for young readers, while for immigrant children, it is a much-needed and validating mirror....Deserving of shelf space in every classroom and library.

Booklist (starred review)

"A fierce entrance into YA, navigating a plethora of complex themes with great honesty... Claire and Dani’s mettle and solidarity as they contend with the institutions and privilege that hide abuse is gripping and empowering. Yang offers a compelling exploration of the parachute experience and the intersection of ethnicity, class, and reputation, while underscoring striking cultural parallels between America and China. Strong characterization and thoughtful writing make for an unforgettable read."

ALA Booklist (starred review)

"Yang writes astutely about the destabilizing combination of family expectations, copious wealth, and absence of adult supervision. She’s also sharply perceptive about the class and race complexities of a community that contains rich Asian visitors and American-born Asians, great wealth and straitened circumstances... A spirited slice of cultural life and story of girls facing cruel inequities, and Yang’s compelling author’s note about parachutes and her own experience of being sexually assaulted adds another poignant facet."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Reminiscent of the television series Fresh Off the Boat... Basing the story on her own childhood experiences, Yang writes Mia’s dreams into reality without sacrificing or minimizing the heartbreaking realities of many immigrants’ hardships... there is much satisfaction in this book’s powerful and heart-wrenching close.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

Read More