Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

Author: Lensey Namioka
Year of Publication: 1999
Publisher: Laurel-Leaf
Pages: 154

About the author: Lensey Namioka 

Lensey Chao Namioka was born on June 14th 1929, in Beijing. She is a writer of children's books and a mathematician. Namioka worked primarily as a mathematics instructor before beginning her career as a published writer in the mid-1970s.

When Naomika was nine years old, she and her family moved to United States. She attended grade school in Cambridge, and later she attended University of California, Berkeley.  Here she met and married Isaac Namioka, a fellow graduate student in mathematics. The Namiokas moved to Ithaca, New York, where Isaac Namioka taught at Cornell University, and Lensey Namioka taught at Wells College.

In the 1970s, on a visit to Japan, Namioka visited Namioka Castle. The experience inspired her to learn more about the samurai. This study culminated in The Samurai and the Long-nosed Devils, which was published in 1976. Namioka expanded this book into a whole series of books about samurai. Namioka also wrote a series of books about a Chinese American family named Yang, and several books about young women and girls facing difficult choices. 

Her book ''Ties That Bind, Ties That Break'' was praised for Namioka's depiction of the complicated heroine and for characters having exceptional depth. It was also praised for the author's lyrical, descriptive prose. 


Sources: http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1242/Namioka-Lensey-1929-Sidelights.html
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/962767.Ties_That_Bind_Ties_That_Break