Phoenix Girl: How a Fat Asian with Bipolar Found Love
by Michelle Yang
| Illustrated by Yvonne Chan
| Memoir
| Published 05-06-2025
COMING MAY 6, 2025
After Michelle emigrates to the U.S. from the tight-knit ethnic Chinese enclave in Incheon, South Korea, she must adapt quickly to survive. With a dominant, impulsive father in charge—who protects the family from everyone but himself—and a mother who never finds her power, Michelle craves safety and security.
Like tumbleweeds, Michelle and her family bump across the country in a Ford Dixie van before settling in Phoenix, Arizona. Working at their family-owned Chinese takeout restaurant by age 12, Michelle drowns in pressures beyond her age.
Ultimately, Michelle finds love, not only the romantic kind, but an enduring self-love, which allows her to heal, never give up, and thrive while successfully managing what later becomes a bipolar 1 diagnosis.
Michelle Yang is an advocate whose writings on the intersection of Asian American identity, body image, and mental health have been featured in NBC News, CNN, InStyle, and Reader’s Digest. Michelle has also been featured on NPR, Washington Post, and The Seattle Times for her advocacy. She loves exploring new parts of her new home state of Michigan with her family and smoking up the kitchen with spicy recipes. You can find her on michelleyangwriter.com or on Instagram @michelleyangwriter.
