Everything I Never Told You: A Novel

"Celeste Ng’s compelling debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, is set in 1977, a time when races in America tended to be categorized as “black,” “white” and “other.” The Lee family — Chinese-American father, white mother and mixed-race kids — falls distinctly under “other.” And while existing outside the black/white racial tension might seem nice, it has allowed the Lees to avoid asking difficult questions about who they are and how they fit in to their small Ohio town. When the oldest Lee daughter dies under mysterious circumstances, the standard police questions — was she happy, did she have issues in school, were there family problems, secrets — reveal how little they know about themselves, and each other."