The Phoenix Pencil Company: A Novel
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Author:
King, Allison
Published:
HarperCollins 2025
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Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
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Description

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic—of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life—holds the power to transform a young woman's relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.

Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.

Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica's discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun's own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil's words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive.

Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King's stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy.

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Subjects

Subjects
Fantasy
Fiction
Literature

More Details

Street Date:
06/03/2025
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780063394452
ASIN:
B0DKHMKP1G

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Citations

APA Citation (style guide)

Allison King. (2025). The Phoenix Pencil Company: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Allison King. 2025. The Phoenix Pencil Company: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Allison King, The Phoenix Pencil Company: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2025.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Allison King. The Phoenix Pencil Company: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2025.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.

Copy Details

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Shared Digital Collection10
East Hampton Public Library00

There are 12 holds on this title.

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Grouped Work ID:
1c7a26d5-540f-9d8f-08fc-09ee6d5886f6
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API Extraction Dates

Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 25, 2025 09:44:36
Date Updated:
Jun 25, 2025 09:44:36
Last Metadata Check:
Aug 07, 2025 15:44:54
Last Metadata Change:
Aug 07, 2025 15:44:54
Last Availability Check:
Aug 07, 2025 15:44:56
Last Availability Change:
Aug 07, 2025 15:44:56
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Aug 07, 2025 22:18:18

OverDrive Product Record

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    In this dazzling debut novel, a hidden and nearly forgotten magic—of Reforging pencils, bringing the memories they contain back to life—holds the power to transform a young woman's relationship with her grandmother, and to mend long-lost connections across time and space.

    Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.

    Though Yun rarely speaks of her past, Monica is determined to find the long-lost cousin she was separated from years ago. One day, the very program Monica is helping to build connects her to a young woman, whose gift of a single pencil holds a surprising clue. Monica's discovery of a hidden family history is exquisitely braided with Yun's own memories as she writes of her years in Shanghai, working at the Phoenix Pencil Company. As WWII rages outside their door, Yun and her cousin, Meng, learn of a special power the women in their family possess: the ability to Reforge a pencil's words. But when the government uncovers their secret, they are forced into a life of espionage, betraying other people's stories to survive.

    Combining the cross-generational family saga and epistolary form of A Tale for the Time Being with the uplifting, emotional magic of The Midnight Library, Allison King's stunning debut novel asks: who owns and inherits our stories? The answers and secrets that surface on the page may have the unerasable power to reconnect a family and restore a legacy.

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    Monica Tsai spends most days on her computer, journaling the details of her ordinary life and coding for a program that seeks to connect strangers online. A self-proclaimed recluse, she's always struggled to make friends and, as a college freshman, finds herself escaping into a digital world, counting the days until she can return home to her beloved grandparents. They are now in their nineties, and Monica worries about them constantly—especially her grandmother, Yun, who survived two wars in China before coming to the States, and whose memory has begun to fade.

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