Purchase to Support Our Program

“Laugh-out-loud dialogue, the pair’s simultaneously innocent and snarky alternating POVs, and a vividly captured Chicago Chinatown setting imbue this memorable narrative with warmth and joy.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

When You Wish Upon a Lantern

Written by Gloria Chao
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group

Liya and Kai had been best friends since they were little kids, but all that changed when a humiliating incident sparked The Biggest Misunderstanding of All Time—and they haven’t spoken since.

Then Liya discovers her family’s wishing lantern store is struggling, and she decides to resume a tradition she had with her beloved late grandmother: secretly fulfilling the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky. It may boost sales and save the store, but she can’t do it alone . . . and Kai is the only one who cares enough to help.

While working on their covert missions, Liya and Kai rekindle their friendship—and maybe more. But when their feuding families and changing futures threaten to tear them apart again, can they find a way to make their own wishes come true?

Primary ISBN: 9780593464359
Publication Date: February 2023
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 12 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , ,

Setting: United States (Chicago)

Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Unknown Arrival

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

Click here for details about how we define our titles.

Engagement Projects & Resources:

Share your favorite resources for this book with info@imyourneighborbooks.org.

Book Review