Never Thought I’d End Up Here
Written by Ann Liang
Published by Scholastic Press
Leah Zhang has just ruined her cousin’s wedding. She didn’t mean to wish the bride a depressing marriage and poor health, but she’s forgotten most of her Mandarin. Her parents stage an intervention: Leah will be sent on a travel program across China’s most beautiful cities. To them, it’s the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it’s simply a much-needed escape.
But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is cynical, sarcastic Cyrus Sui, who’s somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since the day he told a lie that ruined her life.
While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody’s looking, she can’t get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge.
Yet the deeper they wander into China’s provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love — with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she’d call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.
Primary ISBN: 9781546110675
Publication Date: June 2025
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 12 or older
Community Represented: Chinese/Chinese American
Themes: Accolades & Awards, Accolades & Awards: Starred Review, Coming of Age, Cultural Empowerment, Cultural Empowerment & Joy: Family, Cultural Empowerment & Joy: Friendship, Cultural Empowerment & Joy: Identity, Discrimination: Body/Hair, Discrimination: Racial, Family Relationship: Parents, Format: Audiobook, Generation: 1st, Generational Differences, Generational Differences: Language, Genre: Humor, Genre: Romance, Identity: Body Image, Identity: Multilingual, Own Voices/Lived Experience, Setting: Home Country, Trauma & Healing, Trauma & Healing: Intergenerational
Setting: China
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Home Country, 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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Ann Liang Introduces Never Thought I’d End Up Here
Source: Scholastic