Written in the style of a musical invention, the author’s debut novel traces the long-hidden trauma of an elderly woman passed through five generations of women in her family.
Photo: Bryan Aldana
on January 10, 2021
Podcasts editor Ellie Wong interviewed Christina Li ’21, a Stanford senior and debut author of the middle-grade novel “Clues to the Universe.” They discussed writing about grief and loss, finding commonalities in art and science, the importance of Asian-American characters and more.
This transcript has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
The Stanford Daily (TSD): I read on your blog that the first novel you drafted was young adult (YA) fantasy. How did you transition to writing a middle-grade book?
Christina Li (CL): YA was what I was reading at the time. I was really liking authors that came out around 2012 and 2013, like Marie Lu and Leigh Bardugo. YA fantasy was where I started out, and the book was a YA retelling of the Opium Wars.