Chapters (93)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Books by Kelly Yang
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
To my publisher Katherine Tegen, thank you so much for publishing Parachutes and being such a staunch in-house advocate for this book. It means the world to me to be a Katherine Tegen author and I thank my lucky stars every day. To my greater HarperCollins team—Jacquelynn Burke, Ebony LaDelle, Valerie Wong, Tanu Srivastava, Laura Mock, Amy Ryan, Kathryn Silsand, and Mark Rifkin, it is such a joy working with you! Thanks for bringing my girls Dani and Claire to the world!
To my dear friend Lucy Fisher, your support and thoughtful feedback meant everything to me. Thanks for helping me have this baby. I am so crazy-happy excited to go on this wild journey with you! To Doug Wick, thank you for entertaining us all at dinner; it contributed greatly to the editorial process. Many thanks as well to Lucas Wiesendanger and everyone at Red Wagon.
To my agent John Burnham, thank you for championing me and my work every day and working tirelessly on my deals. To my greater ICM team, Ava Greenfield, Alicia Gordon, Lia Chan, Roxane Edouard, Bryan Diperstein, Ron Bernstein, Tamara Kawar, Morgan Wood, and Alyssa Weinberger—thank you so much for being on my team and supporting Parachutes! I love you guys!
To my dear friend and attorney Richard Thompson, thank you so much for your guidance and wisdom over the years. You’re so much more than a lawyer to me and I cherish our friendship immensely.
Many thanks to my colleagues John Chew and Paul Smith at the Kelly Yang Project and to all my students that I taught for thirteen years—you inspire me beyond words. To my mentors and professors Bruce Cain and Paul Cummins, how I treasure our long, thought-provoking conversations on all aspects of academia, including how schools struggle to tackle sexual misconduct.
A million thanks to all the students, host families, parents, teachers, and members of the community I talked to while doing research for Parachutes; thank you for opening up and sharing your experiences with me.
Finally to my family—a huge thank-you to my parents for not freaking out when I told them I was writing a #MeToo book about sexual assault in schools. To my kids, Eliot, Nina, and Tilden, thanks for being patient with Mommy while I drafted this book. To my husband, Stephen, who met me when I was still a law student at Harvard and encouraged me to go to the administrative board—thank you for believing me from the start. And for believing in me all these years.