Ghost Story in Joyland

“She bothered me, this girl. I didn’t like her tone. Or the way she went at the drawstring of her sweatshirt, leaving it wet and puckered with her cowy chews. Too obvious, I suppose, to say I recognized a former self in her, a version of me I was keen to forget.”

The Eldest in BOMB

“Thirteen almost fourteen, she is twig-thin, still choosing underwear with moons and stars that come in packs of five. There’s a hint of cruelty in her mother’s laughter when Mabel places them in the cart: “Aren’t you a little old for those?” Mabel realizes that if they were classmates, her mother would not be her friend.”

Review of A Fire So Wild in The NYT Book Review

“Ruiz-Grossman balances the social and political, the emotional and physical, with insight and precision. Her disparate characters all hail from different worlds, and it’s a horrific thrill to witness their dramas unfurl and collide.”

Review of Banyan Moon in The NYT Book Review

“It is quietly devastating to witness Ann’s battle to forgive a guilt-ridden Huong. Thai renders these feelings with nuance and a familiarity that is sometimes difficult to bear.”

Review of Homeseeking in The NYT Book Review

“The novel’s scope is ambitious and mostly successful. Through her characters’ ranging sensibilities, Chen examines the psychological aftershocks of war.”