In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magicof Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to lifeholds the power to transform a young womans relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.
Monica Tsai spendsmostdaysonhercomputer,journaling the detailsof herordinarylife andcoding for a program that seeks to connect strangersonline.Aself-proclaimed recluse, she's alwaysstruggled to make friends and, as acollege freshman,finds herself escaping intoadigital world, countingthe days until she can return hometoher beloved grandparents.They are now in their nineties,and Monica worries aboutthemconstantlyespecially her grandmother,Yun, whosurvivedtwo wars inChinabeforecomingto theStates, and whose memory has begun to fade.
ThoughYun rarely speaksofher past,Monicais determinedtofindthelong-lostcousin she wasseparated fromyears ago.One day, theveryprogramMonica ishelping to buildconnects her to a young woman,whosegift of a single pencilholds a surprising clue.Monicas discoveryof ahidden family history is exquisitely braided withYuns ownmemoriesas she writes of heryearsin Shanghai,working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. AsWWII ragesoutside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learnofaspecialpowerthe womenintheir family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencils words.Butwhenthe governmentuncoverstheir secret, they areforced into a life ofespionage, betraying other peoples storiesto survive.
Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form ofA Tale for the Time Beingwith the uplifting, emotional magic ofThe Midnight Library,AllisonKings stunning debut novel asks:who owns and inherits ourstories?The answers andsecrets that surface on the pagemay have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy.
