Jessica J. Lee is a British-Canadian-Taiwanese writer and environmental historian living in Berlin, Germany. Lee published two volumes that can be categorized as memoirs: Turning: A Year in the Water, and, Two Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family’s Past Among Taiwan’s Mountains and Coasts. Dispersals: On Plants, Borders and Belonging is her latest work of non-fiction. Lee also co-edited and contributed to the anthology Dog Hearted: Essays on Our Fierce and Familiar Companions. Lee earned a PhD in Environmental History and Aesthetics.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
A Garden Called Home
Illustrated by Elaine Chen.
Toronto: Tundra Books, 2024.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
When a young girl and her mother go to visit her family, the girl notices a change. At home, her mother mostly stays inside. Here, her mother likes to explore and go hiking. The girl has never seen her so happy! Her mother tells her about the trees, bushes, flowers and birds. Did you know that tree roots make mountains strong? And that ài hāo (mugwort) is used to make delicious, sweet dumplings?
But her mother’s smile goes away when they return home. It’s cold and she doesn’t want to go outside. She goes back to wearing her big quilted jackets and watering her houseplants.
How can the girl show her mother that nature here can be wondrous too?