It’s Hermione Granger meets “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” meets the Ice Capades meets “Mean Girls”

2 books

That’s how the New York Times described the PEASPROUT CHEN series. The books are an Asian fantasy about a young woman and her little brother who leave their homeland to come to a new country to study at a boarding school that teaches a very unusual sport, combining figure skating with kung fu. The books have received multiple starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist and both were finalists for the Nebula Award. Ages 8 to adult.

Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword (Book 1)

Henry Lien, 2018

Back home in the ancient empire of Shin, Peasprout Chen was the top athlete in the sport of Wu Liu, the beautiful and deadly art of martial skating. When she wins a scholarship to the cosmopolitan city of Pearl to study at the legendary Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword, Peasprout expects to speed to the top of the rankings. However, she finds that she is finally among other skaters that are at least as good as she is. Further, when someone begins destroying the campus buildings, Peasprout finds herself accused of being a terrorist and a spy simply because she is an immigrant to Pearl. Peasprout embarks on a mission to not only clear her name, but to take victory and prove that just because she’s not from here, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t belong here.

Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions

Henry Lien, 2019

Now in her second year at Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword, Peasprout feels that she is beginning to find her place in this strange new world. Then, her homeland threatens to invade her new country and everyone at the academy questions where Peasprout’s loyalties lie. Further, the threat of war turns the academy from an arts academy into a military academy and Peasprout and friends are tasked with coming up with radical new Wu Liu techniques to protect their country from invasion. Finally, a mysterious new student arrives from Peasprout’s homeland. She claims to be a princess fleeing from the wrath of the Empress Dowager. However, Peasprout knows this can’t be true and embarks on a mission to not only prove her own loyalty to her new homeland but find out who this princess truly is and why she has come here just as war is about to break out.