Draft:Ann Liang

Ann Liang (Chinese: Liang Yuan; born 8 March 2000) is a Chinese-Australian writer and the author of the New York Times bestselling young adult novel, If You Could See the Sun (2022). Her latest release, I Hope This Doesn't Find You (2024), is currently number seven on the New York Times bestselling adult list. She will also serve as the executive producer for a television adaptation of If You Could See The Sun.

Early life and education
Ann Liang was born Liang Yuan in Beijing, China, on 8 March 2000. When she was five, she moved to Melbourne, Australia, and was given the name "Ann" by her teachers, as it was short and easy to remember. At age nine, she moved back to Beijing, moving and attending various international schools, the longest being Beijing International School.

Liang was a prolific reader and writer growing up, frequently doing so while learning English. Throughout her life, Liang was encouraged to become a writer from a very young age, but did not consider it seriously until she was in Year Eleven. In that same year, in 2016, she published her first work called "A Sketch of Perfection", in the anthology My First Lesson: Stories Inspired by Laurinda, by Alice Pung. She attended and graduated from Korowa Anglican Girls' School, and at the time of debut, freshly graduated from the University of Melbourne.

Career
On February 2, 2021, Liang announced through Instagram that she would debuting in 2022 with her young adult novel, If You Could See the Sun. On October 19, Liang announced that she would be releasing her second book, This Time It's Real, in spring 2023.

On June 30, 2022, Liang announced her upcoming novel for summer 2024, I Am Not Jessica Chen, which was later announced to be pushed back for winter 2025 on September 27, 2023. Liang later revealed the cover and release date for the book on July 15, 2024, with a date of January 28, 2025. On October 11, on the debut day of If You Could See The Sun, Liang announced that a television adaptation would be produced by the Seoul and Los Angeles-based Bound Entertainment company, and that she would be serving as an executive producer.

On April 7, 2023, Liang announced the debut of her adult novel, A Song To Drown Rivers, for fall 2024, to which the date was revealed in December 17, 2023. On May 16, Liang announced that she would be releasing another novel, this time from the point of view of Chanel Cao, entitled I Could Give You The Moon, for 2026. On June 29, Liang announced her third YA novel, I Hope This Doesn't Find You, would release on February 6, 2024 in its cover reveal. This book is her third standalone Young Adult novel, following This Time It's Real.

If You Could See The Sun
The book follows Alice Sun, a sixteen-year-old Chinese-American girl who lives in Beijing and currently attends Airington International Boarding School on a partial scholarship. Alice's family is relatively poor, with her and parents moving to a "tiny rural town" in California when Alice was seven to start an Asian grocery shop, in the hopes of making it successful in the American Dream. After her family's store is robbed (implied to be a hate crime), business began to fail and the Sun family returns to Beijing after Chinese New Year, where currently Alice's mom takes on shifts in a hospital as a janitor and her father with was what a printing shop.

Alice is invited to brunch by her parents, who have failed to paid for the semester after her next one, which could result in Alice leaving and having to attend a local Beijing school or a public Maine in school, neither of which could supplement her academic priorities. Leaving anxiety-ridden and dejected, Alice makes her way to school to attend the awards ceremony alongside her academic rival, Henry Li, who is the very thing she envies and aspires to be—rich, successful, and recognized. Following the ceremony, Alice returns to her dorms only to realize she has turned invisible.

This Time It's Real
This Time It's Real follows seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin, a Chinese student who has spent her life traveling abroad due to the nature of her mother's work, and has recently settled back into Beijing. She attends Westbridge International School, where she is considerably a loner and occupies herself by writing. In a call with her best friend Zoe Sato-Meyer, she publishes a student essay about her life with a fake boyfriend. Eliza then attends a parent-teacher conference with her mother, and catches classmate Chinese-American actor Caz Song, who is struggling with his college application. Waking up the next day, Eliza learns that her post went viral overnight, resulting in Eliza being contacted by her favorite writing column. After Eliza is bombarded by the pressure of classmates and online comments alike, she formulates a plan to turn her fictional boyfriend into the real thing. She enlists Caz's help: in exchange for college essay help, Caz agrees to pretend to be her fake boyfriend to keep up the ruse.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You
Departing from Liang's first two novels, I Hope This Doesn't Find You takes place in a private Australian high school, centering around Chinese-Australian student Sadie Wen.

I Could Give You The Moon
If I Could Give You The Moon centers around Chanel Cao, Alice Sun and Henry Li's classmate.

Writing style and themes
Liang's books common theme centers around the individual growth of the protagonist, with her first three books following her female protagonists, Alice Sun, Eliza Lin, and Sadie Wen, high school students who struggle to put themselves out there. Some of her major themes is the Asian diaspora experience, with the former two being students who have found disparity with their home country due to being abroad, and the latter growing up in an English-speaking country. The three of them are characterized by their lack of language fluency in Mandarin Chinese.

Liang's books first two books takes place in international schools, excluding I Hope This Doesn't Find You. This is influenced by Liang's childhood, who attended at least six different schools in Beijing growing up. Due to her various experiences, she also touches upon class and privilege that she has seen from her wealthy classmates.

Some of Liang's artistic references are Chinese media such as C-dramas, and music such as Taylor Swift's discography, with the latter used as references to set the mood for each of her scenes.

Liang cites fellow authors such as R.F. Kuang and Chloe Gong as inspirations, as well as the series The Hunger Games and Shatter Me.

Novels

 * Liang, Ann (2022). If You Could See The Sun. Inkyard Press. ISBN 9780369721754.
 * Liang, Ann (2023). This Time It's Real. Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780369721754.
 * Liang, Ann (2024) I Hope This Doesn't Find You. Scholastic Press. ISBN 9781338827163.
 * Liang, Ann (2024). A Song to Drown Rivers. Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781761564222.
 * Liang, Ann (2025) I Am Not Jessica Chen. Inkyard Press. ISBN 9781335523129.
 * Liang, Ann (2026) I Could Give You The Moon. HarperTeen.

Anthologies

 * Pung, Alice. "My First Lesson: Stories Inspired by Laurinda". Penguin Books Australia. 2016. ISBN 9781925435252

Personal life
She has a younger sister named Alyssa, who is acknowledged in her books. In an interview, she stated that her Chinese name is a combination of her parents' names.

Aside from English, Liang is fluent in Mandarin. In an interview with Penguin Books Australia, she stated that she did an internship translating Chinese entertainment into English, which she also used as an inspiration for This Time It's Real for her character Caz Song, an actor.