Author Description

The Red Part of Me is a fiction picture book about a young Chinese-American girl who discovers the importance of her Chinese heritage by embracing her mother's red qipao, which has been passed down to her. After her first fitting with the dress, Qiuyue quickly falls in love with it despite being unaccustomed to its fit. With her class's show and tell approaching, she knew the dress was what she wanted to introduce to her class. However, soon, Qiuyue begins to form second thoughts about the qipao. Feeling left out and "weird", she hurries home and tries on the qipao again, but only to feel worse about the idea. The rich and passionate red suddenly looked ugly and dark. In tears, she cries to her mom about her dilemma. Qiuyue's mom explains how she should love her cultural differences. With newfound insight, Qiuyue learns how important it is to honor and love her Chinese heritage. On the day of show and tell, with excitement, Qiuyue wears her bright red qipao and shares this special red part of her.