Patricia Park Books In Order

Publication Order of PatriciaPark Standalone Novels

Patricia Park is an American published author.

Patricia was born in Queens, where she grew up. She attended high school in the Bronx, worked in Manhattan, and today resides in Brooklyn.

She attended the Bronx High School of Science, going on to Swarthmore College and Boston University, where she received her MFA. Today she lives in New York and will become part of SUNY Story Brook as a professor of creative writing.

She is known for writing Re Jane, an award winning novel that was a Korean American re-telling of Jane Eyre. The book was picked as an Editor’s Choice by The New York Times Book Review and was selected as one of the Best Books of 2015 by the American Library Association. It was also a pick from O, the Oprah Magazine and NPR’s ‘Fresh Air’.

She has also written the young adult novel Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim and the book What’s Eating Jackie Oh?. Imposter Syndrome was picked as a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize and was one of NPR’s Best Books of 2023. It also received starred reviews in School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

What’s Eating Jackie Oh? was picked as a Best YA Book of the Year from Kirkus Reviews, was a finalist for the Green Mountain Book Award in Vermont, and received starred reviews in Kirkus and the School Library Journal.

Her young adult novel Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic has done very well. The story is about a ‘failed’ child actor who ends up finding her voice when she does stand-up comedy. It received four starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, The Bulletin, and Kirkus.

Patricia continues to write and is working on a new novel for adults that revolves around the Koreans of Buenos Aires. Her books have overlapping characters (much like the Marvel universe) and she refers to them as all being part of her ‘Queens Multiverse’.

Patricia is a tenured professor of creative writing at American University. She is also a Fulbright scholar, an Edith Wharton Writer-in-Residence, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, and has received several other awards and different forms of recognition. Park has written for the New Yorker, the Guardian, Slice Magazine, Salon, The New York Times, and more.

Patricia is also a public speaker and has spoken at various schools, institutions, and bookstores. These include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Stuyvesant H.S., Gotham Comedy Club, Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, Seattle Arts & Lectures, and more.

What’s Eating Jackie Oh? is a 2024 book written by Patricia Park. This is a unique and cute book that author Ellen Oh praises as delivering ‘authentic characters who will make you laugh… and cry’ and advises readers that it is a book not to be missed. Whether you’re a YA reader or just a fan of the genre, this is a light and fun book that will warm your heart and make you smile in this Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year.

A Korean American teen does her best to try and balance her passion for becoming a chef with the cultural expectations her family has when she moves into the competitive world of a television cooking show. Can she use this platform to advance her own career?

Jackie Oh is tired of being the model minority. She is tried with GPAs, PSATs, SATs, everything that has to do with being a student and a minority that gets the best grades and tries her best to be the perfect child and academic.

She wants to be a professional chef, but the problem is that her parents are your traditional Korean American parents. They are corporate workaholics from the Ivy League that would never understand why she wants to be a chef. She already knows that they would reject her based on the situation of her brother Justin, who has not heard from them since being sent to Rikers Island.

Jackie stays busy working at her grandparent’s deli in Midtown Manhattan after school. She does that during the day and practices her French cooking techniques at night, the time when she would normally be studying. However, the kitchen is the only place that she feels a release from all of the stress and the pressure that is eating at her– like her family, school, and the violence targeting the Asian community.

When something unusual happens, it could give her the chance that she needs to become a chef for real. She becomes a teen contestant on the television cooking show Burn Off!. Before she even knows it, Jackie finds herself a part of a competitive television world that is full of child actors, snarky judges, and gotcha-type challenges.

The only thing that Jackie wants to do is cook the way that she wants. She just has to figure out what that is. Could cooking help her discover more of her own identity or will this be the thing that drives a huge wedge between herself and her family forever? Find out by getting a copy of this book!

Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic is a 2026 book by Patricia Park. If you love a good young adult book, this is a great pick no matter what age you are!

A Korean American former child actress chooses to try something new so that she can go after her new passion, stand up comedy. Some people compare Hollywood to high school, and if that’s true, Ambrosia Lee feels like she is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Her acting career hit its peak when she was eleven years old, then promptly took a tumble. This is when she was fired from what was supposed to be her big break thanks to her weight. It was crushing, but hey, that’s show business.

After years of being rejected and going through auditions, teen Ambrosia decides that stand-up is the perfect way to find her voice. It gives her the platform to speak her mind and rant about anything she wants– the dynamics of divorced parents, Hollywood drama, and Asian stereotypes.

It’s also helpful that there’s a cute boy helping her figure out comedy. But it turns out that comedy clubs can also be just as toxic as Hollywood. Can she figure out who she really is on and off of the stage? Read this funny novel from Patricia Park to find out!