by Sarah Kuhn
Once upon a time, a beautiful monster princess undertook an epic quest throughout the magical kingdom of Los Angeles. She slayed many dragons, was blessed with wisdom from her fairy godmother, and reunited with her mother, the long-lost queen. She also met a handsome prince, and they learned how to truly save each other—even when they thought they didn’t need saving.
After she returned to her village, triumphant, she partied until dawn at the Nikkei Week gala, surrounded by her wonderful family and all the love in the world. She and her fellow princess Eliza even did an impromptu judo demonstration at said gala—yes, in her giant princess dress—which many people recorded and posted, and somehow it went viral, leading to UCLA scholarships for both princesses.
There was much rejoicing throughout the land, especially since her handsome prince planned on staying in the kingdom of Los Angeles for months to come, shooting the starring role in his amazing new movie and visiting many enchanted alleys with her. And she and her mother could finally get to know each other as they were meant to.
The princess never thought her life could feel so full. So beautiful. So magical.
Just like a fairy tale.
And she lived . . .
She lives. Happily ever after.
Her story isn’t over yet.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing this book felt like magic, and I am grateful to so many people. But first, a special thank-you to one of my favorite places in LA—Little Tokyo, you are a beautiful wonderland that provided me with so much inspiration. The Little Tokyo in this book is, of course, a fictionalized version of the real Little Tokyo and the community therein—the annual summer festival is a little different, Katsu That is not a real restaurant, and there is no massive photo collage at Suehiro (which is one of the best places for Japanese comfort food—that part is true). Some of the other elements are real and some are imagined. There is, for example, no major scandal involving a movie star—at least not that I know of. But Mr. Sherman the cat totally exists.
Thank you to my many superhero teams: the Girl Gang(s), the Shamers, the Ripped Bodice crew, Heroine Club, Asian American Girl Club, Team Batgirl, the Kuhn-Chen-Coffey-Yoneyamas, the writing sprint squads, the Millsies, and the incredible Asian American arts community of LA. As always, I am so honored to be in your company.
The biggest, shiniest thank-you to my marvelous editor, Jenny Bak, who saw this book’s potential and pushed me to take it to its most epic heights. I appreciate your passion for and insight into these characters more than I can say—and I double appreciate your cute couple moniker: Henrika.
Thank you to my agent, Diana Fox, for believing in Rika’s adventures, and to artist Marcos Chin and designer Tony Sahara for bringing them to such glorious life—this cover makes me swoon. And thank you to everyone at Viking, Penguin Random House, and Fox Literary for bringing this book into the world.
Thank you to all the folks who drew me into the magic of Little Tokyo in the first place, especially Jenn Fujikawa, Keiko Agena, Jenny Yang, Naomi Hirahara, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, Scott and Geri Okamoto, Naomi Ko, Will Choi, Phil Yu, Sean Miura, Yumi Sakugawa, Julia Cho, and all the wonderful people involved in the many events I’ve been part of in the neighborhood.
Thank you to Diya Mishra and Liz Ho for the insightful early reads, to superstar Maurene Goo for important YA author counsel, and to Tom Wong for all the brainstorms.
And thank you to Jeff Chen for being my happily ever after—yes, I did name him after you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the popular Heroine Complex novels—a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s Best Books of 2016. Her YA debut, the Japan-set romantic comedy I Love You So Mochi, is a Junior Library Guild selection and a nominee for YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults. She has also penned a variety of short fiction and comics, including the critically acclaimed graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl for DC Comics and the Star Wars audiobook original Doctor Aphra. Additionally, she was a finalist for both the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. A third-generation Japanese American, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and an overflowing closet of vintage treasures. Find her at heroinecomplex.com
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