“One of the best [books] I’ve read about the individuals who make up a country that is all too often regarded as a monolith.” —Jonathan Fenby, Financial Times If China will rule the world one day, who will rule China? There are more than 320 million Chinese between the ages of sixteen and thirty. Children of the one-child policy, born after Mao, with no memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, they are the first net native generation to come of age in a market-driven, more international China. Their experiences and aspirations were formed in a radically different country from the one that shaped their elders, and their lives will decide the future of their nation and its place in the world. Wish Lanterns offers a deep dive into the life stories of six young Chinese. Dahai is a military child, netizen, and self-styled loser. Xiaoxiao is a hipster from the freezing north. “Fred,” born on the tropical southern island of Hainan, is the daughter of a Party official, while Lucifer is a would-be international rock star. Snail is a country boy and Internet gaming addict, and Mia is a fashionista rebel from far west Xinjiang. Following them as they grow up, go to college, find work and love, all the while navigating the pressure of their parents and society, Wish Lanterns paints a vivid portrait of Chinese youth culture and of a millennial generation whose struggles and dreams reflect the larger issues confronting China today.

"She claimed her spot on the transplanter and laughed and bounced across the fields, an eighty--year-old Big Bird figure with hefty boobs and a potty mouth..." She was everyone's favorite. Get to know Ohio's most spirited firecracker, Leona "Loany" Rice, who splits her time on earth sampling life on both sides of the law. Her niece gives us an inside look at a notorious bookie and numbers racketeer, talk of the town, fireworks distributor, "Granny" to the mentally disabled, farmhand, loving mother--a perpetual "fart in a twister" who never seems to stand still. Even after a family tragedy threatens to destroy her, she finds a way to persevere. Loany lived as we all wish to, with abandon, humor, and just the right amount of sass; and she did it all with the love of her life by her side. Her legacy was to teach all who knew her a lesson: you only live once--and by God, once is enough if you give it all you've got. Margie Hiermer's love of adventure comes from country bike rides to Goldhardt's Grocery as a child to visit Aunt "Loany," a woman more grandmother than grand-aunt. Hiermer brings her passion for engaging with others to her writing and winds down by poking around farm fields in search of treasure.

Simple text and color images present various aspects of the Chinese New Year celebration, including red decorations, the exchange of poems, Festival of Lanterns, Dragon Dance, fireworks, parades, feasts, and the remembrance of ancestors.

“Paints a telling portrait of this most restless generation raised in a system that has provided them with unprecedented personal opportunities while denying them political ones. . . . A gifted observer.”—Washington Post "Informative and often humorous . . . Presents a refreshing range of perspectives about being twenty-something in China."—Forbes “Masterfully crafted.”—Los Angeles Review of Books “A perceptive and quietly profound book.”—Booklist, starred review "Compelling and beautifully written."—Prospect China’s new youth are the generation that will change China. Offspring of the one-child policy, with no memory of Tiananmen, they are destined to transform both their nation and the world. Understanding their motivations, dreams, and attitudes is possibly the most important gauge of China’s future direction as it plays an increasingly important role in shaping this century. China’s New Youth follows the lives of six young Chinese as they navigate their aspirations, discontents, politics, and love lives. Their stories include a netizen nationalist, a country migrant, the daughter of a Party member, a rising pop star, and a feminist entrepreneur. With intimate access to this diverse generation, Alec Ash—a young writer based in China since 2012—gives a vivid, immersive, fascinating account of young China as it comes of age. China's New Youth was originally published in hardcover until the title Wish Lanterns: Young Lives in New China. The new paperback edition has been updated with a new preface and afterword by the author and a new foreword by Karoline Kan.

"Matt Mikalatos offers a poignant and compassionate look at a father's relationship with his children, the healing power of a small act of kindness, and the certainty that even death can't stop love in a deeply moving memoir inspired by a sky lantern with a scribbled note and the journey to find the child who wrote it: Love you, Daddy. Miss you so much. Steph. Steph scribbled those words on a sky lantern before sending it off to her father in heaven who had passed away from cancer. Halfway across the country, Steph's lantern landed in Matt Mikalatos's yard. As a father of three daughters, Matt could not let Steph's note go unanswered, so he posted an open letter to her on his blog. Matt never could have expected the viral response to his letter that led him on a journey to find Steph--and to bring healing to thousands of others in desperate need of the loving words of a father. Filled with paternal wisdom and reflections on the relationship between a father and his child, Sky Lantern shows how the miraculous events that followed Matt finding the sky lantern in his yard--and the widespread and lasting impact his letter had--prove that the bond between a parent and their child is everlasting"--

Meet Lin Yi — a little boy with a big heart and a talent for bargaining. Tonight is the moon festival and he wants nothing more than a red rabbit lantern; but first he must buy the things his mother needs at the market. This heartwarming story shows the rewards of putting others first, and includes educational notes at the end about the Chinese moon festival, life in rural China, and the legend of the moon fairy.

In simple rhyming text a young Muslim girl and her family guide the reader through the traditions and colors of Islam. Full color.