Kaya of the Ocean

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Anxious thirteen-year-old Kaya has always been afraid of everything—but when she learns she is the descendent of a Chinese water goddess, she’ll have to master herself to master her powers.

Thirteen-year-old Kaya, a first-generation Chinese American living on Maui, has always been afraid of the ocean—it’s tried to drown her more than once. (It hasn’t succeeded, but her severe anxiety makes it feel like she’s drowning anyway.) 

As strange things begin happening to Kaya around water, she realizes that while her anxiety may be in her head, her magical connection to the ocean is real—courtesy of her direct descent from the Chinese water goddess Mazu! But unless she can connect with her most difficult emotions and her Chinese family’s history, her powers may become dangerous to the people she loves. . . 

Kaya of the Ocean is a beautifully written coming-of-age fantasy about Chinese American identity, mental health, the immigrant experience, and the complexities of family. With its balance of high-concept genre elements and rich interiority, this story truly captures the intensity of middle school and shows readers how to embrace their own power.

About the Author

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.

Author Residence: Palo Alto, CA