“An Echo In The City” is an illuminating look at coming-of-age during the 2019 Hong Kong protests

We're always intrigued when we come across a book for young adult readers set in a part of the world we aren't as familiar with as we should be. When that book also contains timely themes about recent events, educates us about some of the nuances of global politics, and contains the classic trope of a rich girl and poor boy caught in a complex web, it's even better all around.

The plot K.X. Song's new novel "Echo in the City" encapsulates all of those things and more. Set during the 2019 Hong Kong protests, "Echo in the City" tells the story of Phoenix and Kai, two teens whose lives are changed forever by the changes around them.

To outside observers, the well-to-do Phoenix symbolizes Hong Kong's wealthy and privileged classes to a T. Bilingual, pretty, and well-traveled (having lived in the United States for a large chunk of her childhood thanks to her father's career), Phoenix attends an exclusive international school in the heart of the city. 

Though she's been back from the States for six years, the 16-year-old Phoenix still feels like she doesn't belong anywhere. But despite her confusion around her identity, she knows she'd rather stay in Hong Kong than attend college abroad, despite her parents' investment in fancy schools and lessons in an attempt to get her to the Ivy League.

When the 2019 protests begin, she is indifferent at first to what everything means. But when she realizes Hong Kong might be changing forever -- in ways that she did not recognize -- she decides to start attending protests as a photographer, documenting all of the movement and change around her.

When she somehow picks up the wrong mobile phone in the confusion around her, she meets Kai Zhang, a Hong Kong native who recently returned to the area from Shanghai due to his mother's death. Both grieving and bitter about the poverty he has endured, Kai is also uneasily re-establishing his relationship with his father. 

When Phoenix mentions that she is going to start organizing with the protest movement, Kai expresses an interest in coming too--- and conveniently doesn't mention that not only is he a police academy trainee, he is also the son of a prominent police official. As the two become closer, both have to decide what they are willing to give up in order to protect the place they love.

We received a copy of "An Echo In The City" from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. You can purchase your own at our Bookshop storefront here.

Lakshmi: I liked this book a lot. It's really really hard to do star crossed lovers well; and it's really hard to write about current events (the author must have written this so quickly!); and it's hard to accurately depict class differences; so I was impressed with all of this.

Asha:  All of the above. Also it's hard to write from two different POVs! And I thought she did that really well.

Lakshmi: I sometimes get frustrated with dual narration, but both Kai and Phoenix were portrayed really well. And their lives felt really REAL.

Asha: They're both struggling with parents who have a lot of other things going on in their lives, but who also have certain expectations for them.

Lakshmi: But Phoenix's parents in particular aren’t demonized. Of course they want her to go to college, and to them, going abroad and to the Ivy League in particular, is key to getting their daughter the life they want for her. It does seem like this generation of YA novel books is much better at nuanced family dynamics than books of the past!

Asha: Haha, maybe this generation is seeing the generations that came before them for the flawed people that they are.

Lakshmi: Maybe! Or their editors are also more attuned!

Asha: In a lot of ways, Hong Kong has always been under the thumb of a colonial power, and Phoenix's parents want her to be able to have something different.

Lakshmi: And that makes perfect sense!

Asha: And they know colonial powers don't bend easily…

Lakshmi: Especially since they had all lived in the U.S. for so long when she was a kid. It's not like they are sending her into the unknown!

Asha: …so they're cynical about political protests having any effect.

Lakshmi: That's also an adult thing. I think it takes a lot of faith to be involved in movement building. and that commitment isn't sustainable for everyone, unfortunately.

Asha: And you have to be able to lose things: status, money, friends…Adults feel they have more to lose. The lives that the older protesters lead are full of secrets, watching their backs, and the knowledge that they might have to get smuggled out of the country in order to survive.

Lakshmi: Yup, all of the older protestors are old hands at this, and it makes it MORE terrifying, not less. I did feel like I learned a lot about the nuances of Hong Kong through this book.

Asha: Me too!

Lakshmi: I also feel like we need to talk about Kai, because it's not easy to create a character that is a sympathetic semi-informant! Well, not really an informant but there is no escaping law enforcement when it comes to his life!

Asha: Kai's perspective is really interesting because he grew up on the mainland. And yes, he's not an informant so much as he's an undercover cop!

Lakshmi: It's WILD. And he doesn't even like being a cop! He's at the academy because he has nowhere to go.

Asha: Because his father's a cop, and pretty high up.

Lakshmi: The father and the father's relationship to power was also just interesting. Obviously this character literally represents the state and what it means to cross it, but even such a heavy-handed theme was done pretty well!

Asha: Kai doesn't have a good relationship with his father, and his mother has recently passed so his father's approval is really important to him.

Lakshmi: No reason to- he and his mom were literally abandoned, and they were poor even when his own father had resources. There is a lot of upset and resentment.

Asha: Well...his mom took him and moved to China, so it's more like they left his father. But so much of what Kai does in the beginning is to win his father over, because he's the only parent Kai has left.

Lakshmi: Yes, he's determined to be the BEST POLICE CADET EVER

Asha: Except then he meets Phoenix, who's recently become involved in the protest movement. And he starts to see Hong Kong through her eyes. He doesn’t tell her he’s a cadet, and he feels genuinely conflicted about his deception.

Lakshmi: So Phoenix does come off as sheltered in the beginning (why wouldn't she be!), but it was interesting to see her grow and also see her involvement and learnings affect Kai

Asha: She's a rich kid who goes to a fancy private school, of course she's sheltered! And she's never felt like she belongs in Hong Kong. But she also doesn't feel American, so she's in a weird limbo. And because of her wealth, she's been insulated from politics…until she meets her brother's new girlfriend.

Lakshmi: Yup. 

We have to go soon, but do you have a final thought? I thought this book was so interesting. I'm glad we came across it.

Asha: Me too!My final thought is that I liked the way it resolved as well

Because as we've said many many times, endings are hard!