SATA

PERSONAL

Born in Indonesia; immigrated to Singapore; immigrated to Australia.

B.A. (painting and drawing).

ADDRESS

• Home - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
• Agent - Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, One Union Square West, Ste. 904, New York, NY 10003.

CAREER

Author and illustrator of children’s books. Presenter at school workshops and conferences.

WRITINGS

• SELF-ILLUSTRATED MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS
• “SURVIVING THE WILD” SERIES
• Pie in the Sky, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2019
• Fly on the Wall, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2020
• Pawcasso, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2021
• Ghost Book, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2023
• Read at Your Own Risk, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2024
• Surviving the Wild: Star the Elephant, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2022
• Surviving the Wild: Rainbow the Koala, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2022
• Sunny the Shark, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2022
• Chickenpox , Henry Holt and Company (New York, NY), 2025

SIDELIGHTS

Australian author/illustrator Remy Lai has published several middle-grade, illustrated novels, including Pie in the Sky, Fly on the Wall, and the graphic middle-grade novel Pawcasso. Born in Indonesia, Lai grew up in Singapore and later immigrated to Australia. Though she enjoyed writing stories as a young student, she had no idea she wanted to be a writer until she was in university, where she studied fine arts. In an interview on the Byron Bibliotherapy website, Lai noted that her journey to becoming a published author was “very, very long.” She further commented: “There were so, so many years of rejection. I think I have about twenty rejected manuscripts. I’m too scared to actually count. There were many moments when I wanted to give up, where I questioned myself about why I chose such a path, and then I’d get really frustrated with myself because I knew that no matter what happened, I wouldn’t give up writing.” Her breakthrough came about when she took part in the Pitch Wars website, extolling the virtues of her just completed Pie in the Sky. That led to representation by a U.S. agent and the road to publication opened.

Pie in the Sky takes its title from the name of the cake shop that the father of Jingwen, the young protagonist, hoped to open after immigrating to Australia. Except that the father died in a tragic accident two years before the family immigrated. Now twelve-year-old Jingwen, his annoying younger brother Yanghao, and his mother have finally arrived in Australia, and he feels so out of place that it is like he has come to another planet. School is painful for him with limited English, and he is too often stuck with taking care of his younger brother. He finds solace in daydreaming about baking cakes in the bakery his dad wanted to open, Pie in the Sky. He is not allowed to bake because his mother does not want the kids to use the oven while she is at work. But now Jingwen and his brother actually begin to bake cakes, and have to go to elaborate lengths to keep this from their mother. Writing in Horn Book, Eric Carpenter had praise for this debut novel, commenting: “Jingwen’s journey through loss will resonate with readers, while his quest to bake all the ‘Pie in the Sky’ cakes deepens this story from typical middle-grade tearjerker to delectable page-turner.” Carpenter also lauded the artwork, noting that “Lai’s frequent, blue-tinged illustrations provide comic relief … and serve to propel the narrative forward,” and concluded: “Heartbreakingly honest; in equal parts funny and poignant.” A Kirkus Reviews critic was also impressed with Pie in the Sky, noting: “Like salted caramel, a perfect balance of flavors, this deftly drawn story is a heartfelt treat.”

In an online Paperbark interview, Lai commented on creating a difficult road for Jingwen: “As much as it’s unfair and as much as we wish it isn’t so, kids experience terrible things like loss and grief and shame. It’s important not to shy away from those things when the story calls for it. Books and stories help kids to see that they are not alone in experiencing those things. And I did not start out purposely deciding to give my main character such a heavy load, but I guess that’s what writers do—we torture our characters. When I first wrote Pie in the Sky, I did not know what happened to Jingwen’s dad. I just knew that he didn’t get to migrate to Australia with them. As I wrote on, I discovered.”

Lai’s second self-illustrated novel, Fly on the Wall, features another twelve-year-old boy, Henry Khoo, who likewise is in a trying situation. In this case it is not so much the loss of a parent, but of helicopter mother and sister who are far too protective. He is not allowed to go anywhere on his own, but must always be accompanied by his older sister. Now, with the family’s annual trip to visit the father in Singapore cancelled, he is desperate. He has no desire to spend the time cooped up with the family. Plus he has just lost his best friend and is about to be outed as the creator of an anonymous gossip cartoon. He tells his mother he can fly on his own from Australia to his father in Singapore, but she immediately rejects the idea. So Henry takes matters in his own hands and goes on a secret mission to see his dad. A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised this second novel, noting: “Lai has a talent of not preaching to her readers.” The critic added: “This thrilling coming-of-age adventure is both quirky and sincere.” Similarly, Booklist reviewer Julia Smith commented: “Lai authentically navigates the conflicting emotions that define the awkward transition from kid to teenager. … A smile-inducing crowd-pleaser for every collection.”

In an online Kirkus Reviews interview with Vicky Smith, Lai remarked on how she finally came to deal with Henry’s over-protective family situation: “I knew that his journey had to be forbidden. If his family allowed him everything he wants, then there’s no conflict in his story. [But] there’s a stereotypical trope of Asian parents being overbearing and stuff. And I didn’t want to make that too heavy. So I went the slapstick way.” In the same interview, Lai commented on decisions she makes about blending illustrations with the story: “Usually when I’m writing, I have an idea of which part I want to illustrate. But when I’m [working on] a first draft, I just want to get everything out very, very quickly. I just jot down in my manuscript if I think that this part should be illustrated or not. And then when I revise, I analyze each decision that I make: Why should this be an image, and why should this not be an image? But it’s only when I finish writing the whole manuscript that I actually start sketching.”

With her third middle-grade work, Pawcasso, Lai offers a graphic novel about an unusual friendship between a lonely girl and a friendly dog. Jo is the loneliest kid at school, but one Saturday she encounters a dog, Pawcasso, with a basket between his teeth, off to do the family shopping. Jo is amazed by this, and follows the dog. But when some kids from her school see her with Pawcasso, they assume it is her dog. Jo is so eager to be accepted by these kids that she allows them to believe Pawcasso is actually her dog, even having Pawcasso model for the school art class. But when the animal control office receives complaints about a dog roaming about without a leash, Jo needs to make a serious decision. Is she willing to tell the truth about Pawcasso and save the dog’s freedom but in so doing risk her new friendships? Writing in School Library Journal, Matisse Moser noted of this graphic novel: “The culmination is a tale with bright, cheerful illustrations and an abundance of heart to match.” A Kirkus Reviews critic also had a high assessment, concluding: “Pawsitively charming.”

In an online Publishers Weekly interview with Gilcy Aquino, Lai remarked on the inspiration for the dog at the center of this graphic novel: “Pawcasso is heavily inspired by my dog, Poop Roller, whose special skill is rolling in poop. The day I find out why dogs love to roll in poop so much … well, my work here is done. … Pawcasso’s su-paw-model talent is my dog’s. Poop Roller is just gorgeous and ridiculously photogenic. … Pawcasso is also similar to my dog in the way that he’s friendly to everyone but isn’t one of those dogs who get overly excited with strangers—unless they have food.”

Lai wrote and illustrated the wildlife-focused graphic novel series “Surviving the Wild” for young readers featuring heroic animals and inspired by true events. The first book, Star the Elephant, finds Star, a young pink elephant, traveling with his herd and looking for food. Told to stay with his mother, Star gets separated when game wardens approach and the elephants need to hide. He swims with other elephants to a nearby island, but he is afraid he will never be reunited with his mother. Based on the true 1990 story of bull elephants traveling from Malaysia to Singapore to a new home, the book “highlights daily elephant life, the impact of deforestation, and the dual-edged nature of human interactions within wildlife ecosystems,” according to Pearl Dulaga in School Library Journal.

In the next book in the series, Rainbow the Koala, Rainbow may be old enough to go out on his own, but he is too scared. He needs to find a tree to call his own, learn to climb, look for food, survive in the hot sun, and escape the deadly wildfires. The book provides information on the devastating 2019-20 Australian bushfires, effects of drought and climate change on wildlife, and facts about koalas. “Though high on the adorable factor, this is also a powerful, stirring example of the devastating impact of climate change,” declared Pearl Derlaga in School Library Journal. In Publishers Weekly, a writer noted: “Doodle-like artwork and emotive character expressions add gentle levity to such themes as death and loss.” Booklist critic Becca Worthington reported: “Lai skillfully uses wordless spreads to heighten the white-knuckled tension of Rainbow’s experience.”

The third book, Sunny the Shark, features a fearsome predator, the oceanic whitetip shark. Sunny swims around, trailed by a school of pilot fish that like to clean her in exchange for bits of food. But when Sunny gets a plastic soda ring caught on her fin, she has trouble swimming and hunting for food and may herself become prey to whales and human fish hooks. Eventually some nice human marine biologists cut off the plastic so she can swim freely again. Along with Lai’s plea to reduce plastic that ends up in the ocean, “Sunny’s suffering will be palpable to young readers,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer.

Lai’s standalone novel Ghost Book, inspired by Chinese mythology, follows July Chen, a lonely twelve-year-old who sees ghosts and is an outcast to the living. During Hungry Ghost Month when dangerous ghosts haunt the waking world and prey on other ghosts, July saves the ghost of William Xiao. But William is not really a ghost, just a lost soul disconnected from his living body. To reunite his soul with his body, July and William must travel to the Underworld where they learn the secret of how their lives are intertwined. July and William were born on the same day, and July’s father made a devastating deal with the King of the Underworld. Lai incorporates Chinese traditions and beliefs about death and the afterlife.

July and William “must outsmart the shepherds of the underworld if they hope to uncover the secrets of their past,” explained a Publishers Weekly writer. In an interview with Betsy Bird in School Library Journal, Lai explained that she wanted to write her own take on traditional Chinese mythology: “I grew up in Asia, with so many different iterations, retellings, adaptations of Chinese myths. They were just a way of life. I feel no need to adhere strictly to the ‘correct’ version (if there is one).”

“The clean and expressive illustrations complement the story, being a bit eerie and scary but leavened with humor and lightness,” declared a Kirkus Reviews critic. Writing in Booklist, Julia Smith remarked how Lai can mix slapstick and messages about friendship, and stated that “her artwork elevates each scene to its fullest potential as wacky and disgusting ghosts float through panels.”

BIOCRIT

PERIODICALS

• Booklist, April 15, 2019, Mariko Turk, review of Pie in the Sky, p. 76; April 15, 2020, Julia Smith, review of Fly on the Wall, p. 66; April 15, 2022, Becca Worthington, review of Surviving the Wild: Rainbow the Koala, p. 36; July 1, 2023, Julia Smith, review of Ghost Book, p. 52.

• Horn Book, July-August, 2019, Eric Carpenter, review of Pie in the Sky, p. 131.

• Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2019, review of Pie in the Sky; April 1, 2020, review of Fly on the Wall; April 1, 2021, review of Pawcasso; June 1, 2022, review of Sunny the Shark; June 1, 2023, review of Ghost Book.

• Publishers Weekly, March 18, 2019, review of Pie in the Sky, p. 83.

• School Library Journal, June, 2019, Amy Seto, review of Pie in the Sky, p. 72; May, 2021, Matisse Moser, review of Pawcasso, p. 80; March 2022, Pearl Derlaga, review of Surviving the Wild: Star the Elephant, p. 97; March 2022, Pearl Derlaga, review of Surviving the Wild: Rainbow the Koala, p. 97.

ONLINE

• Byron Bibliotherapy, https://byronbibliotherapy.com/ (June 9, 2019), author interview.

• First Second, https://firstsecondbooks.com/ (April 19, 2020), Jordin Streeter, “Behind the Panels: Remy Lai—Meet Remy Lai, creator of Pawcasso.”

• Horn Book, https://www.hbook.com/ (April 23, 2019), “Spring 2019 Publishers’ Preview: Five Questions for Remy Lai.”

• I Read, You Read, We Read, http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/ (May 25, 2021), author interview.

• Kirkus Reviews, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (October 11, 2020), Vicky Smith, “Remy Lai: Writing Funny/Sad Books for Kids.”

• Paperbark, https://paperbarkwords.blog/ (June 29, 2019), author interview.

• Parrot Street, https://www.parrotstreet.com/ (April 14, 2020), author interview.

• Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (May 18, 2021), Gilcy Aquino, “Four Questions with Remy Lai”; (April, 2022), review of Surviving the Wild: Rainbow the Koala; (August, 2023), review of Ghost Book.

• Quiet Pond, https://thequietpond.com/ (September 11, 2020), author interview.

• Reading Middle Grade, https://readingmiddlegrade.com/ (June 2, 2021), author interview.

• Remy Lai website, http://www.remylai.com (August 5, 2021).

• School Library Journal, https://afuse8production.slj.com/ (July 12, 2023), Betsy Bird, “Are You Afraid of the Dark? A Remy Lai Q & A and Excerpt Reveal from Ghost Book!”*