One of my favorite reads of 2023 has to be The Queens of New York. This book not only made me nostalgic, but it’s also this tender story of friendship. It’s about friends who support us, who we keep secrets from, and who we don’t understand. For anyone who loves a good multiple POV friendship story, this is for you! Keep reading to see what questions I had for E.L. Shen after finishing The Queens of New York.
The Queens of New York
Best friends Jia Lee, Ariel Kim, and Everett Hoang are inseparable. But this summer, they won’t be together.
Everett, aspiring Broadway star, hopes to nab the lead role in an Ohio theater production, but soon realizes that talent and drive can only get her so far. Brainy Ariel is flying to San Francisco for a prestigious STEM scholarship, even though her heart is in South Korea, where her sister died last year. And stable, solid Jia will be home in Flushing, juggling her parents’ Chinatown restaurant, a cute new neighbor, and dreams for an uncertain future.
As the girls navigate heartbreaking surprises and shocking self-discoveries, they find that even though they’re physically apart, they are still mighty together.
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You can read my full review here!
Find The Queens of New York on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
Interview
Let’s begin by chatting about the three different perspectives and main characters. Which ones were easier or harder to write and can you talk about your inspiration for each of them?
Writing three different perspectives in general was a real challenge! I was just reflecting on this the other day—I really wanted to create three distinct voices, and doing so required putting myself in my characters’ shoes in a more intentional way than perhaps with other novels I’ve written. Jia’s voice is probably closest to my actual writing style, so that wasn’t as tricky. I wanted her to be descriptive and thoughtful in order to illustrate her quiet spirit and rich inner world. Everett was super fun to write because she had a peppy, stream-of-consciousness voice that I imagined as an elevated “valley girl.” She is by far the most extroverted and confident of the friend group, and I felt this voice matched her strong, bubbly personality. As for Ariel, I often went with clipped, short sentences to depict her grief and pragmatic mindset. Her voice, I would say, was the most difficult to write just because it was so far from my own. At the end of the day, though, I think her voice was the most satisfying to write because it was such a fun challenge!
New York City comes alive in your book – and it would with that title – what is your experience with the city and what are some of your favorite parts or pieces in the book?
I love that you said that because in my mind, New York City is definitely the fourth friend in the Queens friend group. I spent ten years living in New York City (I just moved!) and it was the first place I felt that was really my own. But before all that, my parents were born and grew up in New York (my father grew up in Flushing, Queens specifically), and my grandparents on both sides of my family immigrated to New York from China. I have so many fond memories of eating dumplings with my family at this bare-bones dim-sum restaurant that we would have to arrive at before the doors even opened because of its constantly influx of customers. Moreover, my dad’s favorite thing about his home was the Unisphere—the big metal globe in Flushing Meadows Park—and so I knew I had to make that a central meeting place for the girls in The Queens of New York. The Unisphere is even featured on the back cover of the book which is really special to me and to my family.
Did you always know you would write a book about friendship? How did you evolve this theme from inspiration to drafting? Did you run into any unexpected issues?
I certainly had no idea I was going to write a book about friendship! I was really inspired by my two best friends from high school; we stayed in touch and grew even closer during lockdown FaceTiming and messaging each other every day. That kind of sisterly love and found family is so important to me—especially in light of how different the three of us are. It quickly became something I wanted to depict in a novel. However, crafting three girls’ lives in the course of one story was not easy! I had a hard time matching up on all the timelines and making sure everyone’s character arc organically ebbed and flowed with the others. There was a point in time when I had color-coded sticky notes all over my wall just to figure out the timelines!
One of the things I loved about Everett is about how she has to manage and call out the racism around her. Can you talk a bit more about this specific inspiration and how you approached her character journey?
Absolutely. In addition to writing, I’ve always loved singing—particularly musical theater and opera. I’ve trained with voice teachers in both opera and theater since I was thirteen. I particularly enjoyed my rigorous vocal training in college, as well as the musical theater opportunities I was lucky to have. So when I graduated, I figured that this kind of welcoming, diverse community would be the same in post-grad community theater—especially since I was living in New York City. But at the time, community theater was an incredibly white space that often offered little to no room for speaking out or diverse voices even entering the conversation. I distinctly remember a producer patting himself on the back during a community theater’s town hall for adding a few women to the pit orchestra. Everyone cheered and I just thought, Oh god, is this where we’re starting from? Things came to a head when I was in a staged reading of Thoroughly Modern Millie—the show that Everett is in—and felt so humiliated due to various experiences that occurred throughout that process.
I processed a lot of my struggle with theater, and my disappointment with the community, through Everett’s story. Like her, I tried so hard to ignore the subtle (and not so subtle) racism around me and strive for a better environment. It was really hard for me to realize that this wouldn’t be easy, or potentially possible, and I think that’s a harsh but true reality for Everett throughout The Queens of New York. Fortunately, for both she and I, there’s hope that things can and one day will, be better.
Ariel’s grief felt so raw and authentic. I loved the way you tied grief and personal identity together how it can completely unmoor us. How did you use the side characters of her family to advance and further explore the subject of grief and family?
Thank you for your kind words! That means a lot to me, especially as someone who experienced an unexpected loss in my immediate family when I was a teen—that of course, influenced the way I portrayed Ariel’s grief. But beyond that, I was very interested in exploring the way that stereotypically, the Asian American community deals with grief and mental health. Ariel’s family represents a run-of-the-mill family who—instead of going to therapy or talking about their issues—sweeps everything under the rug, including their dead daughter. What’s left is shame and silence, and that was something I was eager for Ariel to push up against and subsequently, create a new path towards healing for both herself and her parents.
THE QUEENS OF NEW YORK was your first YA book you released, was this the first you drafted? How did writing a middle grade before change your approach for this one? Were there things you were looking forward to exploring in this older age group?
Yes, this was the first young adult novel I drafted! It was really exciting for me because due to the word count and age group—in comparison to middle grade—I was able to add a bit more nuance and heft into the story, things that I hope resonated with teen (and even adult) readers.
What are you working on next?
My next young adult novel is set to publish sometime in 2026 (eek)! I can’t say much about it, but it’s a sweeping family drama set in 1966 and the present day. I can’t wait for it to be out in the world.
Find The Queens of New York on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
About the Author
E. L. Shen is a writer and editor living in New York City. Her debut middle grade novel, The Comeback (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers) is a Junior Library Guild Selection, received two starred reviews, and was praised for its “fast-paced prose, big emotions, and authentic dialogue” in The New York Times. Her young adult debut, The Queens of New York (Quill Tree Books) is a New York Public Library Best Book of the Year, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Common Sense Media Selection. Her next novel, Maybe It’s a Sign, publishes on January 23, 2024.
E. L. received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College of Columbia University, where she majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. When she is not dreaming up fictional worlds, she can be found stress-baking, figure skating, singing show tunes, and eating too much chocolate. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @elshenwrites.