Mei-Ling Hopgood was an all-American girl. She grew up in the Midwest, was a high school pom pom girl, went to college, and became a reporter for a Michigan newspaper. She wasn’t really curious about her Asian roots, though she knew she was adopted. Then one day, when she’s in her 20s, her birth family from Taiwan comes calling, literally, on the phone, on the computer, by fax—in a language she doesn’t understand. They want to meet her; they want her to return to them.

As her sisters and parents pull her into their lives with boisterous affection, claiming her as one of their own, Mei-Ling falls in love with them. But this unexpected reunion has a price, as she learns things she never wanted to know about why she was given away. Ever the enthusiastic journalist, Mei-Ling turns her investigative skills to her own family, trying to uncover the devastating secrets that haunt her family to this day, and to understand the choices of her birth mother.

Lucky Girl journeys into the rich Chinese culture—its magnificent sights, war-torn history, and sumptuous foods—while it reveals the personal suffering wrought by the country’s tightly-held traditions. Mei-Ling finds that although both her Chinese and American families have shaped her identity, in the end it’s up to her to figure out who she is. Hers is a tale of love and loss, frustration, hilarity, deep sadness and great discovery that helps her understand the meaning of family.