Dallas is such a diverse city. And of course there were lots of Thai people that we hung out with. My dad had a lot of Thai friends who lived there. And then so moving to a smaller town where it wasn’t as diverse. And I think my school, I went back and looked and I think it was like 87% white demographic. And so feeling instantly unique, very different. Teased sometimes, but just less being ostracized, but more just constantly being aware that I was different and feeling like I didn’t exactly have things in common with my classmates. I think that made me, I think that’s one of the reasons I was such a big reader. I mean, for one thing, I was always at the restaurant. I was always hanging out with my parents there. I had to go there after school. I had to hang out there on the weekends.
I’m an only child, and so that I couldn’t be left home alone. I had to go with them. And this is before iPads, before internet. So if I wasn’t drawing, I was reading or I would be asked to help out. So if I didn’t want to be put to work, I would have to just sit in the corner with a book. But I also think that there was a little bit of escapism where I was trying to imagine myself as the hero, imagine myself in these fantasy worlds. I read a lot of fantasy as a kid, a lot of magical stories. And I think it was because I felt so different in the real world. I was looking for a place for myself, and I found that in books.
For more author interviews, please visit ReadingRockets.org.
