Michelle Yang - Phoenix Girl

From the outside, Michelle Yang’s life might look like a familiar immigrant success story—but her new memoir, Phoenix Girl, reveals something far more powerful and complex. When her family left their tight-knit Chinese community in South Korea and arrived in America, the promise of freedom quickly tangled with a domineering father, a silenced mother, and the nonstop grind of running a Chinese takeout restaurant in Phoenix. By twelve, Michelle was already behind the counter, learning to juggle customers, cultures, expectations—and her own emerging sense of self.

In Phoenix Girl, Michelle traces her courageous journey from fear to freedom. She opens up about childhood instability, her path toward self-acceptance, and her honest, deeply human experience living with bipolar disorder. It’s a story of resilience, reclamation, and learning to rise from the fire instead of being consumed by it.