We Speak Authors
Min Jin Lee Returns With ‘American Hagwon,’ a Sweeping Family Saga
After Pachinko made her one of the most celebrated novelists in America, Min Jin Lee is back with the next chapter of her life’s work. American Hagwon, published September 29 by Cardinal, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, is a sweeping 656-page family saga about what parents sacrifice — and what children inherit — in the pursuit of education.
The novel follows John and Helen Koh and their three children, Bo, DH and Mido, whose lives are upended first by the betrayal of John’s oldest friend and then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The family’s search for solid ground carries them from Seoul to Sydney to Southern California, through hagwons — the private after-school academies of the title — as well as universities, nail salons, luxury boutiques and fast-food restaurants. Spanning the IMF crisis of the 1990s to the crash of 2008, it is the third novel in Lee’s planned quartet about the Korean diaspora, and it has already topped the Los Angeles Times bestseller list in Southern California.
Lee’s debut, Free Food for Millionaires, announced her as a major talent; Pachinko confirmed it, becoming a finalist for the National Book Award and earning a place on The New York Times’ list of the 100 Best Books of the Century. She currently serves as New York State Author Laureate for 2025–2027 and lives in Harlem. The audiobook edition of American Hagwon is narrated by actor Yerin Ha.
Hachette announced the novel back in January 2026, and the finished book has landed exactly as promised: big-hearted, meticulously observed, and built around the belief — tested on every page — that education is the surest road to a better life. The hardcover is priced at $36.
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Erin Napier understands that a house holds a family’s memory — and in her new picture book, the house gets to tell the story. The Christmas House, published October 6 by Tommy Nelson, is Napier’s holiday companion to her bestselling The Lantern House, told from the point of view of the house itself as it is decorated and filled with joy for Christmas.
Page by page, the house watches the season arrive: decorations are carried down from the attic, a hand-carved nativity is set out, cookies are baked, and a family treasure is uncovered in the basement. At the center of it all is Grandpa’s cracked wooden Christmas star — worn, imperfect, and the most important decoration of all — in a story that gently honors a family member who has passed and the way traditions keep loved ones present. Folk artist Adam Trest illustrates, in the same warm style that made The Lantern House a favorite.
Napier, beloved as a co-host of HGTV’s Home Town, announced the book to her followers in August, describing it as a story about how Christmas traditions keep the people we love alive forever. She will take it on the road this season, with stops including Birmingham, Alabama on November 7; Jackson, Mississippi on November 21; New York City on November 30; and Laurel, Mississippi on December 5.
Written for ages 4 to 8, The Christmas House runs 40 pages and is priced at $19.99 — a read-aloud built for the nights when the tree goes up and the whole family crowds in close.
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