Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Gloria L. Huang!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Gloria L. Huang
Gloria L. Huang is a freelance writer. Her fiction has been accepted for publication in literary journals including Michigan Quarterly Review, The Threepenny Review, Chicago Quarterly Review, Witness Magazine, Massachusetts Review, Pleiades, Southern Humanities Review, Fiction Magazine, North American Review, Arts & Letters, Washington Square Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Gargoyle Magazine, Sycamore Review, and The Antigonish Review. She received her B.A. in English Literature from Stanford University.
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About the Book: Kaya of the Ocean
Anxious thirteen-year-old Kaya has always been afraid of everything—but when she learns she is the descendant of a Chinese water goddess, she’ll have to master herself to master her powers!
On the surface, thirteen-year-old Kaya leads a charmed life. She lives in beautiful, beachy Lihiwai. She has ride-or-die best friends. She’s ultrasmart and killing it at school. She even works with a super-cute boy at her parents’ restaurant.
But she also has anxiety—serious anxiety, the kind that makes you scratch and pick—and she’s always had bad luck around the ocean. It’s hard to enjoy Hawaiian beaches when you’ve almost drowned more than once.
But as stranger and stranger things happen to Kaya around the sea, she realizes that—wanted or not—she has a special connection to it. Waves rise when she’s angry. Surf smooths when she’s calm. Fish come when she calls them. And when she learns the truth about her family and her divine ancestor, Mazu, she knows that she will need to connect with her most difficult emotions ASAP—or her potent powers may become dangerous to the people she loves.
Kaya of the Ocean is an exciting, fresh, and beautiful middle-grade fantasy about embracing who you really are. This heartfelt adventure of sun, surf, and sand touches on mental health, the immigrant experience, and the complexities of growing up.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I started writing this book not long after the worst of the pandemic, when I witnessed so many kids—including some close to me—struggling with anxiety and not really knowing how to deal with it. I wanted to write a story where the main character’s anxiety starts out as a flaw but then becomes part of her superpower when she learns to accept all parts of herself. In terms of the cultural context, I wanted to write a contemporary mythology in which I put a modern spin on the Chinese water goddess Mazu to honor my family’s cultural history, which you can spy in bits and pieces throughout the book.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
I feel like it’s cheating a little to say Kaya, since I was in her head for so long while I was creating this book! Besides Kaya, I also love Iolana—she’s a combination of the friend I would love to have had and the girl I would love to have been.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
Definitely the novel! My dark secret is that I don’t love naming things (stories, books, characters), and I almost always create the plot and concepts before giving them names.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
The scene near the end of the book, when Kaya runs to the ocean at night to try to give back her powers. That moment where she stands on the shore, broken and hopeless and unable to reconcile all the different parts of herself—it’s one of my favorite scenes because she’s right on the brink of acceptance, but it hurts so much that she nearly gives up trying. It was important for me to get this scene right—to show that when you’re struggling, it might feel hopeless, but that’s not all there is. To show you’re not alone.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve
learned as a writer from then to now?
Back to the beginning of my writing career, you mean? Ooh, that’s a good question. This is definitely going pretty far back (I’m one of those annoying writers who wanted to be a writer as a child, so I’m trying to draw a line in the sand for how far I look back!), but I would say that the most important thing I learned was to keep pushing forward, even if you’re not in love with the sentence you just wrote, or the paragraph, or even the chapter. I think every writer takes such pride in every word they write that it’s sometimes hard not to want everything you put on the page to be perfect, but it’s so important to keep pushing forward. You never know what it might transform into later when you go back to revise and edit, and you never know what amazing scenes are still to come. Don’t stop writing!
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
The cover is so beautiful, isn’t it? I love that the artist captured so much of the wonder and innocence Kaya felt when she first discovered her powers. There was dread and fear too, of course, but underneath that, especially in the scene with the sea animals, there’s so much wonder.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2025?
Besides KAYA, I assume (smile)? Well, first I should give a humblebrag (or maybe just outright brag?) alert. Okay? You’ve been warned! So, KAYA was selected as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection, and it was chosen by the American Booksellers Association as an outstanding debut on their “Indies Introduce” list, for which I was so delighted and honored. This is a very roundabout way to say that I’m really looking forward to the release of the other books selected, as they look like amazing books and I can’t wait to read them all.
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
I try to read a mixture of adult fiction, young adult fiction, and middle grade fiction, in order to keep my voice fresh and nuanced. For adult fiction, I recently read and loved SHARK HEART by Emily Habeck—it was so original and unique! For young adult fiction, it’s not that recent, but I loved WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH by Elizabeth Acevedo. For middle grade fiction, also not super recent, but I absolutely adored WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER by Tae Keller.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
I’m always writing, so I have a few other middle grade novels I’m working on, along with some short stories (those tend to be adult literary).
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
Hmm. Another good question! I would say the scene where Kaya finally gathers the courage to visit Anne in the hospital, only to break down and start screaming she’s sorry. Writing that scene was painful, because I had to feel Kaya’s shame and guilt, but I also had to feel the pain Aunt Sienna feels as she watches over her injured child and her hysterical niece who accidentally caused the injury. A lot of emotions in that one short scene.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
For KAYA, I would actually say it was Kaya’s mom. As anyone who has an Asian mother will know, they often walk the line between strict and loving. It was sometimes challenging to strike the right tone with her—in some of the early versions of the book, my beta readers found her to be really difficult, almost cruel. I had to go back and make sure to soften her character and dialogue so her love for Kaya would shine through.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember
from this book?
I would love for any reader who is struggling with some part of themselves, whether it’s anxiety or something else, to read KAYA and know there’s power in accepting all the pieces that make up who they are. In the book, Kaya’s dad says quexian mei, which is a Chinese phrase that means “things are more beautiful when they’re imperfect.” I would love for that to be the message readers remember from KAYA.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
Writing-wise, it’s that when I’m captured by a new idea for a story, my eyes turn white and I write feverishly, almost obsessively. For non-writing superpowers, it’s that I’m overzealously dedicated to planning and organizing. I’ve been known to make plans a year or two in advance. (I know.)
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
Ooh, very good question. There are a few! I often support UNICEF Children, who bring relief to children in unthinkably horrifying situations around the world.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
It’s so tempting to compare yourself to your fellow writers (at any stage really, but especially when starting out), but please don’t! It will only cause unnecessary stress, and I really believe everyone’s journey is as unpredictable as it is their own.
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
Just a note to say thank you for featuring me in this interview, and thank you to all the readers who chose to spend some of your precious time with Kaya and her friends!
Title: Kaya of the Ocean
Author: Gloria L. Huang
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Publisher: Holiday House
ISBN-10: 0823457885
ISBN-13: 978-0823457885
Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy
Age Range: 8—12 yrs
~ Giveaway Details ~
Two (2) winners will receive a copy of Kaya of the Ocean (Gloria L. Huang) ~US Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
