{"product_id":"the-phoenix-pencil-company-9780063442061","title":"The Phoenix Pencil Company","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic--of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life--holds the power to transform a young woman's relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMonica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly--especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThough Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica's discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun's own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil's words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCombining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of \u003cem\u003eA Tale for the Time Being\u003c\/em\u003e with the uplifting, emotional magic of \u003cem\u003eThe Midnight Library\u003c\/em\u003e, Allison King's stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKing, Allison:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eAllison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to platforms for community conversations to data privacy. Her short stories have appeared in \u003cem\u003eFantasy Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDiabolical Plots\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eLeVar Burton Reads\u003c\/em\u003e, among others. She is a 2023 Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow. \u003cem\u003eThe Phoenix Pencil Company\u003c\/em\u003e is her first novel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"William Morrow Large Print","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51318741664018,"sku":"9780063442061","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7c32331f-3e57-4ab0-aa31-a048204e8cf1.jpg?v=1748511373","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-phoenix-pencil-company-9780063442061","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}