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Back Parachutes Save as PDF
Chapters (93)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Sixty-Six
  69. Sixty-Seven
  70. Sixty-Eight
  71. Sixty-Nine
  72. Seventy
  73. Seventy-One
  74. Seventy-Two
  75. Seventy-Three
  76. Seventy-Four
  77. Seventy-Five
  78. Seventy-Six
  79. Seventy-Seven
  80. Seventy-Eight
  81. Seventy-Nine
  82. Eighty
  83. Eighty-One
  84. Eighty-Two
  85. Eighty-Three
  86. Eighty-Four
  87. Eighty-Five
  88. Author’s Note
  89. Acknowledgments
  90. About the Author
  91. Books by Kelly Yang
  92. Back Ad
  93. About the Publisher

Heather walks over, chewing loudly on her gum as she puts a hand on my shoulder. “Oh well, there’s always next time, Thunder Girl!”

Ming meets me after school. The two of us walk over to the agency together. I kick a rock as I tell her what happened with Heather.

“That’s so messed up,” she says. “And I thought America was supposed to be different.” Her shoulder droops, tired from carrying her violin case. I noticed she’s stitched the words Fearless Female with string on her violin case. “Joanne’s.” She smiles, catching my gaze, referring to the fabric store one town over. She switches shoulders. “Anyway, you’ll still beat her, trust me. Something at the tournament will trip her up. She can’t memorize everything.”

That’s what I’ve been telling myself too. Still, the unfairness stings. Ming kicks a rock to me and tells me about her host dad. “Yesterday he offered me a beer. I told him I don’t drink, and he got mad and said drinking’s a part of American culture,” she says.

“So what’d you do?” I ask.

“Well, he started screaming and yelling, and one of his kids started crying. So I took a sip.”

Whoa. I stop walking. I know we’d been joking around a lot about Underwear Kevin, but this sounds serious. Forcing a minor to drink? I ask Ming if he’s done it before.

Ming shakes her head. “No,” she says. “And, really, I can handle it. Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”

I don’t know what that means. “Why don’t you tell the school about it?” I ask. “They might be able to switch you to another host family.”

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. The school’s been so kind and generous already,” she says.

We walk along the quiet, residential streets. I look over at Ming. We still haven’t had a chance to talk about what she told me. “So do your parents know . . . that you’re gay?”

“No way,” she says. “Hopefully they never will.”

Ming kicks another rock, and I study her face.

“How about at school?” I ask.

“You’re the first one.”

Wow. I guard the honor with my heart.

“I’m so proud of you,” I say.

Ming smiles as she lifts her hand to shield the sun out of her eyes. “Thanks,” she says. “It feels pretty good.”

“Are you going to start telling people?” I ask.

“Maybe.” She shrugs. “But not back home.” She lets out a long, labored sigh. “China’s not like here. My family will never understand.”

As she looks up at the palm trees and the vast blue sky, I think about how difficult things must have been for her back home to want to leave her family and come live with strangers in a foreign country.

Nine

Claire