Ties that bind, Ties that break

LENSEY NAMIOKA                  

Book: Ties that bind, Ties that break.

Publisher:Bantman Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc

Date of Publication: January 1st 1999

Lensey Namioka is a prolific writer of books for young adults and children. 

She was born in Beijing, China, and came to America when she was 9 years old. 

she studied mathematics  at the University of California and  worked primarily as a mathematics instructor before beginning her career as a published writer in the mid-1970s.

Her husband, a college math professor, was born in Japan. 

The Namiokas live in Seattle, but Ms. Namioka has lived and traveled all over the world.

Namioka is perhaps best known for her series of exciting, adventure-mystery books about two sixteenth-century Japanese samurai warriors and for her humorous, juvenile novels about a family of Chinese immigrants living in Seattle.

Namioka's first book for young readers, The Samurai and the Long-nosed Devils, is set in sixteenth-century Japan

Namioka's first work of young-adult fiction set in contemporary times, Who's Hu?, was published in 1981

Ties That Bind, Ties That Break explores themes of cultural conflict and political unrest. Ailin is a young woman in 1920s China who is expected to prepare herself for marriage and a traditional family life. Unwilling to take the road expected of her, Ailin rebels and her journey of independence eventually takes her to America. Although the transition is a difficult one, in the end she is rewarded with happiness and self-respect.