Ying Chang Compestine

Ying Chang Compestine (born March 8, 1963[1]) is a Chinese American author, speaker, television host and chef. She has written over twenty books including a novel, Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party, based on her life growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.[2]

Ying Chang Compestine
Author Ying Chang Compestine speaking at the Asian Festival of Children's Content
Born	張瀛 March 8, 1963 Wuhan, Hubei, China
Occupation	Author
Language	English
Alma mater	Central China Normal University University of Colorado Boulder
Genre	Fiction, children's books, cookbooks, historical fiction, cultural studies
Notable works	Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (2007)
Spouse	Greg M. Compestine
Children	Vinson Compestine
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	張瀛
Simplified Chinese	张瀛
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhāng Yíng Wade–Giles Chang^1 Ying^2
Website
www.yingc.com

Biography

Ying Chang Compestine was born and raised in Wuhan, People's Republic of China.[1] Her family was considered "bourgeois," so the Red Guard took her family's belongings and her father was put in jail twice.[3] Because of the family's difficulties, Compestine was sent to live with her grandparents.[3]

Compestine earned a degree in English and American literature and taught English in China.[1] She also worked as an interpreter for China's Bureau of Seismology.[1]

Compestine graduated with a master's degree in Sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1990.[4][5] She met her husband just before she finished graduate school.[6]

Career

After immigrating to the United States, Compestine taught sociology and writing at universities in both the U.S. and China.[7][1] Compestine has received various education awards including the Master Teacher Award from both Front Range Community College (1991-1992) and the International School of Beijing (2000).[1]

Compestine has hosted several cooking shows on Chinese Language News Broadcaster for Phoenix North America Chinese Channel, as well as appearing as a guest on the Food Network, Discovery Channel,[8] and HGTV.[1] She also worked a food editor for Martha Stewart’s Body + Soul magazine[6] and is a contrubitor for Cooking Light, EatingWell, Self, and Men's Health.[9][10][11] Compestine is also a spokesperson for Nestle and Celestial Seasonings.[12]

Writing career

Compestine began writing after her son was born, creating the cookbook, Secrets of Fat-Free Chinese Cooking (1997).[6] She began writing children's books after her parents died, because she missed China and her family.[6] Since then she has written numerous children's books, and is actively writing today.

Her book Revolution is Not a Dinner Party (2007) is based on her life growing up in China.[6] The book has been featured on several lists, such as the 2008 American Library Association's (ALA) Best Books for Young Readers, and Publisher's Weekly's best children's books for 2007.[13]

Compestine co-authored Secrets of The Terra Cotta Soldier, with her son Vinson in 2014.[14][15]

Her children's book The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes (2018) illustrated by David Roberts, has received praise from Publishers Weekly, The Guardian, and The San Francisco Chronicle.[16][17][18] It was rated as one of the "best new picture books" by The Children's Book Review in 2018.[19]

Publications

• The Chinese Red Riding Hood. Abrams Books for Young Readers. Release date: 2021
• D is for Dragon Dance (Chinese/English bilingual edition). Holiday House. Release date: Fall 2018
• Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (German translation). Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart. Release date: Summer 2018
• The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes. Abrams Books For Young Readers. 2018. ISBN 978-1419725425.
• A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts: A collection of Deliciously Frightening Tales. Tumbling Dumpling Media. 2016. ISBN 978-0997218701.
• The Story of Chopsticks. Immedium. 2016. ISBN 9781597021203.
• The Story of Kites. Immedium. 2016. ISBN 978-1597021319.
• The Story of Paper. Immedium. 2016. ISBN 978-1597021234.
• Boy Dumplings: A Tasty Chinese Tale. Immedium. 2016. ISBN 978-1597021197.
• Secrets of The Terra Cotta Soldier. with Vinson Compestine. Abrams Books. 2014. ISBN 978-1419705403.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Cooking with an Asian Accent. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2014. ISBN 978-1118130759.
• Ying's Best One-Dish Meals: Quick & Healthy Recipes for the Entire Family. Sellers Publishing, Inc. 2011. ISBN 978-1416206439.
• The Runaway Wok. Dutton Books for Young Readers. 2011. ISBN 978-0525420682.
• Crouching Tiger. Candlewick. 2011. ISBN 978-0763646424.
• Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party. Henry Holt & Co. 2007. ISBN 978-0997218701.
• The Real Story of Stone Soup. Dutton Books for Young Readers. 2007. ISBN 978-0525474937.
• D is For Dragon Dance. Holiday House Inc. 2007. ISBN 9780823420582.
• The Story of Noodles. Holiday House. 2002. ISBN 0823416003.
• Secrets From a Healthy Asian Kitchen. Avery. 2002. ISBN 9781583331279.
• The Runaway Rice Cake. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2001. ISBN 0689829728.
• Cooking With Green Tea. Avery. 2000. ISBN 9781583330654.
• Secrets of Fat-free Chinese Cooking. Avery. 1997. ISBN 0895297353.

Awards

Book	Award
Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party	California Book Award for Young Adult Literature 2008 ALA Best Books For Young Adults 2008 ALA Notable Children's Books 2007 Publishers Weekly Best Children's Fiction Book List 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Best Children's Fiction Book List 2008 Chinese American Librarian Association Best Book 2007 New York Public Library 100 Best Titles for Reading and Sharing 2007 Fall Book Sense Children's Picks 2007 Parent's Choice Silver Honor 2007 Cybils Award Nomination for Young Adult Fiction 2008 Tayshas Reading List (Texas) 2007 Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2007 Cleveland Public Library Celebrate With Books 2007 Cuyahoga County Public Library Great Books for Kids 2008 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People — CBC and the National Council for Social Studies 2008 IRA Notable Books for a Global Society 2008 NCTE Award 2008 Capitol Choices — Best Books of the Year, Washington, D.C. 2008 New York Public Library's Teen Age List 2008 Cooperative Children's Book Center — Best of the Year 2008 Bank Street College of Education — Best Children's Book 2008 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts 2008 Book of the Year Award — Northern California Independent Booksellers Association 2008 Women's National Book Association's Judy Lopez Memorial Awards Honor 2008-09 Maine Student Book Award 2008 Notable Children's Books in the English Language Arts 2009 ATPE Book of the Month 2009 Sakura Medal Book 2008-2009 Nominated for the Maine Student Book Award[20]
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts: A collection of Deliciously Frightening Tales	Notable Book for 2010 by the Children's Literary Assembly AARP as a Grandparent's Book for Children[20]
Secrets of The Terra Cotta Soldier	Top 3 Books by The Morning Call Best Multi-Cultural Books of 2014 Award NYPL's 100 Best Children's Books of 2014 Best Fiction on the Bank Street College 2015 List The Nerdy Book Club's Top 10 Historical Fiction List Shortlisted for the Hong Kong Golden Dragon Book Award CALA Best Book Award of 2014[20]
Crouching Tiger	Winner of the Panda Book Award in China Winner of The Morning Calm Award in South Korea The Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book of 2011 CCBC Choices for 2012[20]
The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale	Featured title at the Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore 2013 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award (WCCPBA)Nominee 2012 Storytelling World Resource Award 2012 California Collections List, for school libraries Scholastic Book Club Choice 2011 Lasting Connections Top 30 Titles from Booklist[20]
The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes	2018 Parent's Choice Awards 2019 Great Texas Mosquito List 2019 Bank Street College of Education — Best Children's Book

References

1. "Compestine, Ying Chang 1963". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
2. For a twist on the lunar new year dumpling add green Tea" NPR https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/31/268926416/for-a-twist-on-the-lunar-new-year-dumpling-add-green-tea
3. Spiegel, Jan Ellen (23 October 1997). "Chinese Cook Returns to Roots". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 6 September 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Ying Chang Compestine (2012) - UC Davis School of Education". education.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
5. "Ying Chang Compestine | Ying's Education". yingc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
6. McMahon, Regan (3 October 2007). "Ying Chang Compestine revisits the Cultural Revolution". SFGate. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
7. "China: Ying Chang Compestine". residentexpertwiki-eastasia.weebly.com. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
8. "Ying Chang Compestine". Baker & Taylor Author Biographies. 5 January 2000 – via EBSCOhost.
9. "Healthy Cooking With Ying". www.diablomag.com. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
10. "Review of Ying's Best One-Dish Meals". Retrieved 2017-07-31.
11. Compestine, Ying Chang (2011-09-21). Ying's Best One-Dish Meals: Quick & Healthy Recipes for the Entire Family. South Portland, Me.: Sellers Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9781416206439.
12. Iaacs, Matt. "Mighty Spirit". Diablo Magazine. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
13. "Revolution is Not a Dinner Party". Junior Library Guild. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
14. "NAW Interview With Ying Chang Compestine and Vinson Compestine". New Asian Writing. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
15. "Pictures of the Week: Authors Celebrate at Abrams Books | School Library Journal". School Library Journal. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 2017-09-07.
16. "Children's Book Review: The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes by Ying Chang Compestine, illus. by David Roberts. Abrams, (32p) ISBN 978-1-4197-2542-5". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
17. Williams, Imogen Russell (2018-01-27). "Children's and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
18. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
19. "Best New Picture Books January 2018 : The Childrens Book Review". www.thechildrensbookreview.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
20. "Ying Chang Compestine | Media Praise". yingc.com. Retrieved 2017-07-07.

External links

• Ying Chang Compestine