In his 36 years of teaching, some of the best writing 91爆料 English Professor Shawn Wong has seen came out of English 302, his class on narrative storytelling. Still, he was taken aback by Zoe Hana Mikuta鈥檚 essay in winter 2019.
鈥淚 write about queer, half-white girls and I kill off their families for the drama of it all,鈥� the essay read. 鈥淚 make them fight robots, because it’s thrilling, and I make them fall in love to give them something to fight for.鈥�
Mikuta, a sophomore at the time, had been unassuming in class. 聽But, at just 19, she had already secured a two-book deal with MacMillan Publishers, one of the 鈥淏ig Five鈥� publishers of English-language books.
Mikuta鈥檚 first book, 鈥�,鈥� is set to come out June 29. Categorized in the young adult genre, it tells the story of Eris and Sona, who live under a tyrannical regime enforced by 100-foot-tall mecha robots called Windups. Mikuta, now 21, has to 鈥淕earbreakers,鈥� and she鈥檚 currently working on its sequel, due out in 2022.
Mikuta was born in the Washington, D.C., area to a Korean mother and white father. The family moved to Boulder, Colorado, when she was 12. In D.C., she enjoyed gatherings with her mom鈥檚 family. In mostly white Boulder, she was cut off from her Korean heritage.
Mikuta began writing in third grade, and it became a release, a way to de-stress. Her parents divorced in 2017, during her senior year of high school, and she had a separate lunch period from her friends. She went to the library during lunch and wrote 鈥淕earbreakers鈥� in just three months 鈥� a pace she doesn鈥檛 think she鈥檒l match again.
That summer, she sent out query letters to find a literary agent, and a week before leaving home for the 91爆料, she signed with an agent 鈥� all unbeknownst to her parents. She then inked a publishing deal the following April, a week after turning 19.
The point of view in 鈥淕earbreakers鈥� switches back and forth between Eris, who is a half-Korean, half-Japanese member of a rebel group called the Gearbreakers, and Sona, who is a half-Korean, half-white cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. Eris is a cold-hearted warrior, while Sona is on fire to avenge her parents鈥� murder at the hands of the regime. Both grow as they find their opposites in each other, and both are reflections of what Mikuta was going through at the time.
“When I was all angry and hateful, I definitely was not grappling with humanity on that kind of scale,鈥� Mikuta said, referring to the struggles her characters face. 鈥淏ut what I’m trying to explore in 鈥楪earbreakers鈥� is 鈥� what makes our humanity? I think it’s the people we love.鈥�
Writing the book at such a young age allowed her to create an emotional 鈥減rototype鈥� for her life.
鈥溾�楪earbreakers鈥� hinges on the relationships between characters,鈥� Mikuta said. 鈥淭hat’s what makes any book series special to me. It鈥檚 about the characters鈥� relationship with others and relationship with themselves. By writing, I’m just discovering what feels good in that regard.鈥�
Now, Mikuta is working on the 鈥淕earbreakers鈥� sequel and exploring a new set of themes, including the experience of being biracial. The book is set in a future where the presence of Korean culture has been whittled down, hidden but still a strong part of the characters鈥� identities. Readers will find Korean words and references to Korean culture, echoing Mikuta鈥檚 own efforts to reconnect with her heritage by learning the language.
Writing from her own perspective, Mikuta is filling a gap in the genre. She , which features two women of color 鈥� something Mikuta hasn鈥檛 seen very much in young adult literature. She says that young adult books featuring people of color often have white authors, crowding out authors of color who want to tell stories from their own experience.
Lack of representation is something Wong has grappled with throughout his career.
鈥淚n the early 1970s, I had to educate an audience to Asian American literature, before I could become a published writer,鈥� said Wong, who along with being a professor, is also a pioneer of Asian American literature as an author, publisher and scholar. 鈥淵ou feel responsible 鈥� and I think for Zoe, it’s the same thing. There’s this vacuum out there, and there are readers out there who want to see themselves.鈥�
Mikuta attended fall quarter at the 91爆料 from her mom鈥檚 house in Boulder, and she鈥檚 now living in her first apartment in Seattle. She鈥檚 keeping up with her 91爆料 community as the president of , a group for 91爆料鈥檚 queer women, nonbinary and trans students, even though she鈥檚 had to defer her studies this winter due to financial difficulty.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for me to continue my education at the 91爆料, because I want to know as much as possible,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes I get very excited that I get to be old someday, because I can鈥檛 imagine how much I鈥檒l know by then. Learning feels to me like participating in the most fundamental, moral human practice.鈥�
Mikuta puts that love of learning into her writing. It鈥檚 how she鈥檚 come to know more about herself 鈥� from trying out relationships and processing emotions to thinking about identity 鈥� as she explored in her 2019 essay for Wong鈥檚 class:
鈥淲hat kind of person can feed into the person that you are at this point in time? Do your edges line up nicely where they need to, do they blur where it is necessary? Is it comfortable, have you both grown into the way you’ve grown up? Do you like the way I look?
鈥淚s it okay that I’m still working on being happy?鈥�