Tae Keller Books In Order

Publication Order of Mihi Ever After Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of She Persisted Books

Tae Keller
Tae Keller grew up in Honolulu, where she ate Spam musubis, wrote stories, and participated in her school’s egg drop competition but did not win.

After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, she moved to New York City in order to work in publishing, and now has a very stubborn Yorkie and a multitude of books as her roommates.

She won a 2021 Newbery Medal for “When You Trap a Tiger”, which was also a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature nominee in 2022.

“The Science of Breakable Things” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2018. Natalie’s uplifting story about using the scientific process in order to “save” her mom from her depression.

Eggs are breakable, sure. But hope is not.

Natalie’s science teacher suggests she enter into this egg drop competition, Natalie believes that this could be the perfect solution to every single one of her problems. There is prize money, and should she and her friends win, then she’ll be able to fly her botanist mom to see the miraculous Cobalt Blue Orchids, flowers which survive against impossible odds.

Natalie’s mom has been suffering from depression, and Natalie’s certain that the flowers’ magic is going to inspire her mom to love life once again. Which means that it is time for Natalie’s friends to all step up and show her that talking about a problem is just like taking a plant out of a dark cupboard and giving it some light. Natalie, with their help, starts this uplifting journey to find the science of love, hope, and miracles.

This is a loving and vibrant debut about the coming-of-age moment when children realize that parents are also people.

It was named one of the best books of the year by The Chicago Public Library, NPR, and Kirkus Reviews.

“When You Trap a Tiger” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2020. Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? Here is an uplifting story that brings Korean folklore to life while a girl goes off on this quest in order to unlock the power of stories and also save her grandma.

Some stories just refuse to remain bottled up.

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandma, this magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales shows up, which prompts Lily to unravel this secret family history. A long time ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. And now they’d like it back. One of these tigers comes to Lily with a deal: return what her grandma stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health, and Lily is tempted to agree.

However deals with tigers aren’t ever what they appear to be. With help from her sister and Ricky, her new friend, she must find her voice, and the courage to confront a tiger.

Tae shares a sparkling story about the magic of family and the power of stories.

“Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone” is the third stand alone novel and was released in 2022. Tae offers up an emotional and gripping tale about this girl that gets alienated by her friends. And all for believing in aliens.

Middle school can sometimes make you feel as though you are totally alone in the universe, however what if we’re not alone at all?

Thanks to Reagan (her best friend) Mallory Moss knows all the rules about middle school. Most important one is that you have to fit in to survive. However then Jennifer Chan moves in right across the street, and this rule just doesn’t seem to apply. Jennifer does not care at all about the middle school laws, or the laws of the universe. She believes in aliens, and she thinks she’s able to find them.

Then Jennifer vanishes. Mallory goes searching, using clues from Jennifer’s journals. However the closer she gets, the more that Mallory must confront why Jennifer may have run off, and face the truth that’s inside herself.

Tae lights the sky up with an insightful tale about shifting friendships, wrong and right, and the power to hold influence and change each other. Nobody’s alone.

“Mihi Ever After” is the first novel in the “Mihi Ever After” series and was released in 2022. Three girls that fall into this fairy tale world. Should they find a way to escape, or stay forever?

Mihi Whan Park loves fairy tales. More than anything else, she wants to be a princess, however everybody keeps telling her that she is not the princess type. Then she gets her chance: When she and Reese and Savannah (her new friends) find this portal to some fairy realm, they get their opportunity to learn how to be princesses.

However the fairy tale world winds up not being the wonderful place that Mihi had imagined it’d be. Soon, Reese and Savannah decide that they are ready to return home, and Mihi must decide where her loyalties lie: With her friends and her future back home, or with her princess dreams?

“A Giant Problem” is the second novel in the “Mihi Ever After” series and was released in 2023. Tae continues Mihi Whan Park’s fantasy adventures while they revisit the fairy tale realm in order to solve a giant problem.

After narrowly surviving their previous trip into the Rainbow Realm, Mihi, Reese, and Savannah know that stepping back through the library refrigerator and into the magical fairy tale world would be quite the dangerous choice. However once they learn that Genevieve (Mihi’s nemesis) has just crossed through the fridge and into the Rainbow Realm herself, Mihi and her friends decide they’ll have to bring her back home.

Through the refrigerator they go, and once they arrive, they find the world’s changed. Atop this enormous beanstalk, there is this greedy giant is wreaking havoc on the realm, and Genevieve is not the only one in need of saving. Now Mihi and all her friends have to team up with villains, concoct a magical disguise, and infiltrate this party filled with the most fearsome of creatures in all the land. What could possibly go wrong with this?