Chloe and the Kaishao Boys

Informationen zum Autor Mae Coyiuto is a Chinese-Filipino writer, born and raised in the Philippines. Mae earned her BA in Psychology from Pomona College and her Master's Degree in Writing for Young Adults/Children from The New School. If she's not writing, she's usually fangirling over Beyoncé, tennis, Gilmore Girls , or all of the above. She currently lives in Manila. Follow her on Twitter @maecoyiuto. Klappentext When Dimple Met Rishi meets Loveboat, Taipei in this hilarious YA rom-com about a Chinese Filipina girl in Manila whose father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates in hopes of convincing her to stay close to home for college. "A sweet and refreshing story about family, first love, and chasing your dreams. The way Coyiuto writes romance will completely sweep you away." Dustin Thao, New York Times bestselling author of You've Reached Sam . Chloe knows what it takes to be the perfect Liang daughterstay in Manila, study business management, and join the family company. But when she unexpectedly gets off the wait list for USC, her dream of becoming an animator in the United States is suddenly within reach. Before she goes, her auntie insists on planning a traditional debut for Chloe's eighteenth birthday. And while a party with all her friends and family sounds like the perfect send-off, the huge production her auntie wantscomplete with ball gowns and a choreographed dance numbermakes Chloe want to pass out from stage fright. To make matters worse, her father, intent on finding Chloe the perfect escort for the party, keeps setting her up on one awkward kaishaoor arranged dateafter another. Why does her dad suddenly care so much about her love life? And what happens when she actually starts to fall for one of the guys, only to have to leave at the end of the summer? At home in the Philippines, Chloe has her future all planned out for her. In America, nothing is certain. With a career in animation far from guaranteed, Chloe must decide if following her dreams is worth everythingand everyoneshe'll be leaving behind. Leseprobe 1 The Liang family lunch is far from the ideal setting to celebrate my dream coming true. Unless you're abroad or on your deathbed, attendance at Sunday lunch is mandatory. When my cousin Peter got his wisdom teeth pulled out, Auntie Queenie still brought him to the same Chinese restaurant our family has been going to since the beginning of time. So when I tried asking Pa if I could sit this one out, he gave me his go-to answer: "If Peter can make it to the restaurant with cheeks as swollen as tennis balls, you can too." Things would be more bearable if Pa hadn't already broken the news about USC to my aunties. I begged him not to post anything after I told him that I got off the wait list. He stayed silent on Instagram, but I'd completely forgotten about the Liang family group chat. His photo series went like this: a picture of my USC wait-list letter, me frowning, my acceptance letter, me smiling. All the photos had the accompanying hashtags #FromWaitListToYesList #CantGoLowyWithChloe . Pa is weirdly obsessed with hashtags and adds them at the end of every message. He once spammed the groupchat with dozens of them, and I messaged him separately that they don't work that way. Auntie Queenie proceeded to reply with more hashtags and renamed the group #LiangFamGang . In terms of USC, it's not that I want to keep secrets from my family. It's more that I already know what my aunties have to say. "Chloe, I don't understand why you're considering going to America to study cartoons." Auntie Rita says "cartoons" like it's a dirty word. When my aunties first heard that I'd applied to a college in the US, they were shell-shocked. When they found out I wanted to study animation, they were downright offended. "How are you goin...

Klappentext

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Loveboat, Taipei in this hilarious YA rom-com about a Chinese Filipina girl in Manila whose father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates in hopes of convincing her to stay close to home for college.

"A sweet and refreshing story about family, first love, and chasing your dreams. The way Coyiuto writes romance will completely sweep you away." —Dustin Thao, New York Times bestselling author of You’ve Reached Sam.

Chloe knows what it takes to be the perfect Liang daughter—stay in Manila, study business management, and join the family company. But when she unexpectedly gets off the wait list for USC, her dream of becoming an animator in the United States is suddenly within reach.

Before she goes, her auntie insists on planning a traditional debut for Chloe’s eighteenth birthday. And while a party with all her friends and family sounds like the perfect send-off, the huge production her auntie wants—complete with ball gowns and a choreographed dance number—makes Chloe want to pass out from stage fright.

To make matters worse, her father, intent on finding Chloe the perfect escort for the party, keeps setting her up on one awkward kaishao—or arranged date—after another. Why does her dad suddenly care so much about her love life? And what happens when she actually starts to fall for one of the guys, only to have to leave at the end of the summer?

At home in the Philippines, Chloe has her future all planned out for her. In America, nothing is certain. With a career in animation far from guaranteed, Chloe must decide if following her dreams is worth everything—and everyone—she’ll be leaving behind.

Leseprobe
1

The Liang family lunch is far from the ideal setting to celebrate my dream coming true.

Unless you're abroad or on your deathbed, attendance at Sunday lunch is mandatory. When my cousin Peter got his wisdom teeth pulled out, Auntie Queenie still brought him to the same Chinese restaurant our family has been going to since the beginning of time. So when I tried asking Pa if I could sit this one out, he gave me his go-to answer: "If Peter can make it to the restaurant with cheeks as swollen as tennis balls, you can too."

Things would be more bearable if Pa hadn't already broken the news about USC to my aunties. I begged him not to post anything after I told him that I got off the wait list. He stayed silent on Instagram, but I'd completely forgotten about the Liang family group chat.

His photo series went like this: a picture of my USC wait-list letter, me frowning, my acceptance letter, me smiling. All the photos had the accompanying hashtags #FromWaitListToYesList #CantGoLowyWithChloe.

Pa is weirdly obsessed with hashtags and adds them at the end of every message. He once spammed the groupchat with dozens of them, and I messaged him separately that they don't work that way. Auntie Queenie proceeded to reply with more hashtags and renamed the group #LiangFamGang.

In terms of USC, it's not that I want to keep secrets from my family. It's more that I already know what my aunties have to say.

"Chloe, I don't understand why you're considering going to America to study cartoons." Auntie Rita says "cartoons" like it's a dirty word. When my aunties first heard that I'd applied to a college in the US, they were shell-shocked. When they found out I wanted to study animation, they were downright offended. "How are you going to support yourself? You should choose a major that's practical. Something that you can build here." She turns to Pa. "Ahia, your daughter is getting too Americanized."

I bite my tongue and flash my polite smile, the one where I keep my mouth shut and lift the corners of my lips. It's the secret weapon I deploy when my relatives make me want to say what I actually think.

Americanized has become my aunties' favorite word around me. Just last week, Auntie Que…