{{Short description|American writer}} {{Infobox writer | nationality = American | genre = [[Young adult fiction]] | notableworks = The Reader, We Are Not Free | website = {{url|http://www.tracichee.com/}} | language = English | awards = 2020 National Book Award, Young People’s Literature Finalist, 2021 Printz Honor | birth_place = California | alma_mater = UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University }} '''Traci Chee''' is an American author of [[young adult fiction]], best known for ''the [[Sea of Ink and Gold]]'' trilogy and ''[[We Are Not Free]]''. Chee is [[Yonsei (Japanese diaspora)|fourth-generation]] [[Japanese Americans|Japanese American]] and resides in California where she grew up.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Diaz|first=Shelley|title=Literacy Is Magic: Traci Chee on World-Building, Fantasy, and "The Reader"|url=https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=literacy-is-magic-traci-chee-on-world-building-fantasy-and-the-reader|access-date=2021-06-09|website=School Library Journal}}</ref>
== Education and career == Chee studied literature and creative writing at the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], and earned a Master of Arts degree from [[San Francisco State University]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Traci Chee {{!}} Penguin Random House|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2061459/traci-chee|access-date=2021-06-09|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}</ref> After obtaining her master's degree, Chee entered a writing contest called The Pitch Wars, which gives new writers a chance to show their work to literary agents by pairing them up with established mentors. Chee was paired up with author [[Renée Ahdieh]].<ref name=":0" /> The Pitch Wars led her to obtain a literary agent and publishing deal with [[Putnam Press|Putnam]] for her first book ''The Reader''.<ref name=":0" />
== Selected works ==
=== Sea of Ink and Gold trilogy (2016-2020) === {{main|Sea of Ink and Gold}} ''Sea of Ink and Gold'' trilogy is a work of [[fantasy]] about a world in which no one knows about books and reading.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Reader by Traci Chee: 9780147518057 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/319031/the-reader-by-traci-chee/|access-date=2021-06-09|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}</ref> In addition to multiple [[Dramatic structure|plot lines]] and a [[Story within a story|story-within-a-story]], the book contains several [[cipher]]s for the reader to discover and decode.<ref>{{Cite web|title="The Reader": Traci Chee's Stunning Debut|url=https://www.fictionunbound.com/blog/traci-chee-the-reader|access-date=2021-06-09|website=Fiction Unbound|language=en-US}}</ref> The books appeared on [[The New York Times Best Seller list]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Traci Chee {{!}} HMH Books|url=https://www.hmhbooks.com/author/Traci-Chee/117358484|access-date=2021-06-09|website=hmhbooks|language=en}}</ref>
=== ''We Are Not Free'' (2020) === {{main|We Are Not Free}} Chee's book ''We Are Not Free'' is a work of [[historical fiction]] about [[Japanese Americans|Japanese-American]] teenagers during World War II facing forced relocation and imprisonment at the [[Internment of Japanese Americans|Japanese-American internment camps]], or [[Japanese-American service in World War II|segregated military service in war-torn Europe]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/traci-chee/we-are-not-free/|title=WE ARE NOT FREE {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref> It is based on interviews with her relatives, as well as letters from her ''[[nisei]]'' grandparents who, although [[Citizenship of the United States|American citizens]] from [[History of the Japanese in San Francisco|San Francisco]], were incarcerated as teens at [[Topaz War Relocation Center]] during the war due their ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Author Interview - Traci Chee, author of We Are Not Free|url=https://bookpage.com/interviews/25511-traci-chee-ya|access-date=2021-06-09|website=BookPage.com|date=28 August 2020|language=en}}</ref> It won the [[Michael L. Printz Award|Printz Honor]] award in 2021 and was a finalist for the [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature|National Book Awards 2020 for Young People's Literature.]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=We Are Not Free|url=https://www.nationalbook.org/books/we-are-not-free/|access-date=2021-06-09|website=National Book Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref>
=== ''A Thousand Steps into Night (2022)'' === ''A Thousand Steps into Night'' is a Japanese-influenced fantasy about [[Yōkai|demons]], adventure, and plans gone awry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Thousand Steps into Night |url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/87162545-a-thousand-steps-into-night |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=Goodreads |language=en}}</ref> It was longlisted for the [[National Book Award for Young People's Literature|National Book Awards 2022 for Young People's Literature]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Thousand Steps into Night |url=https://www.nationalbook.org/books/a-thousand-steps-into-night/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=National Book Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Bibliography == ''[[Sea of Ink and Gold]]'':
* ''The Reader,'' Putnam, September 13, 2016 * ''The Speaker,'' Putnam, November 7, 2017 * ''The Storyteller,'' Putnam, November 13, 2018
''[[We Are Not Free]]'', [[HMH Books for Young Readers]], September 1, 2020
''A Thousand Steps into Night'', [[Clarion Books]], March 1, 2022
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Portal|Children and Young Adult Literature}} *{{official|http://www.tracichee.com/}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chee, Traci}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American women writers of young adult literature]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:21st-century American women writers]] [[Category:American women children's writers]] [[Category:American children's writers]] [[Category:American writers of Japanese descent]] [[Category:American writers of young adult novels]] [[Category:American women writers of Asian descent]]