A first-generation Chinese-Canadian immigrant, Zhao gained attention for their online presence before the book was announced. Iron Widow is Xiran Jay Zhao’s debut novel, and an explosive debut novel at that, gripping readers in a vice rom page one and not letting them go, even when the last page is turned. Yet, there is an audience for literature such as that, literature that combines entertainment with real revolution, and that audience is getting larger and more vocal every year, hungry for more. Publishers do not think it would sell well, publicists worry about potential backlash, and more. Whenever a book comes along that does challenge its readers to think critically about our own reality and history, there can be hesitancy. Mainstream readers can enjoy a series such as The Hunger Games without connecting the dots between the world in the novels to the real world. However, there is usually a limit, a disconnect, which separates the injustices on the page from the injustices in the real world. Stories are full of characters challenging the status quo and pushing back against injustice. Revolution has always been a major theme across literature, and nearly every young adult novel features the concept in some way.
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