Wikipedia

Joanna Ho

Joanna Ho (Chinese: 何曉光 Hé Xiǎo-Guāng)[1][2] is a Chinese-American author. She is best known for writing the 2021 picture book Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, a New York Times best seller.[3] Her writing features themes of anti-racism and self-acceptance.[4][5]

Joanna Ho
Born
Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
University of California, Berkeley
OccupationAuthor
Notable workEyes That Kiss in the Corners
Websitejoannahowrites.com

Early life and education

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Ho was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to immigrants from Taiwan and China.[3][5] She grew up in Saint Paul, Baltimore, and the San Francisco Bay Area.[3][5][6]

Ho earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's degree from the Principal Leadership Institute at the UC Berkeley School of Education.[7] During her time in college, she lived in Ghana for a year, where she studied traditional dance.[1]

Career

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Ho worked as an English teacher, later becoming vice principal of a San Francisco Bay Area high school.[3][6] As a teacher, she sought to create a more equitable and inclusive educational experience for her students.[6] After giving birth to her first child, she had difficulty finding picture books for him with diverse racial representation. This difficulty motivated Ho to begin writing picture books herself.[6][8]

In 2021, HarperCollins published Ho's first book, Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, illustrated by Dung Ho (no relation). The picture book, featuring a Taiwanese-American girl who says her eyes "kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea," became a New York Times best seller and won a Golden Kite Award.[3][4][9] In 2022, she published a companion book featuring a young Asian boy, Eyes that Speak to the Stars.[6] Another companion book published in 2024, Eyes That Weave the World's Wonders, was co-authored by Liz SoHyeon Kleinrock, and addressed interracial adoption from the perspective of a girl from South Korea adopted by white Americans.[10]

Ho continued exploring cultural identity in her 2023 picture book, Say My Name, where she gave her full Chinese name, 何曉光 Hé Xiǎo-Guāng, to one of the characters;[1][2] and in a 2024 book about Asian-American history, We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America, with art by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.[5] In 2022, Ho published her first young adult novel, The Silence That Binds Us, which was honored in the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.[11][12]

Ho co-hosts a podcast, Kidlit Happy Hour, with fellow author Caroline Kusin Pritchard.[2][13] Ho and Kusin Pritchard co-authored the 2025 picture book The Day the Books Disappeared, which addresses book banning. While on tour to promote the book in October 2025, the authors were barred from a planned appearance at an elementary school when they refused a request from the San Ramon Valley Unified School District to omit mentions of book banning from their presentation.[14][15]

Personal life

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Ho lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has three children.[16]

Selected bibliography

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 Gray Jr., Gary; Ho, Joanna (September 19, 2023). "In Conversation: Gary Gray Jr. and Joanna Ho". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on October 7, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Sutton, Roger (September 29, 2023). "Joanna Ho Talks with Roger". The Horn Book Magazine. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Egan, Elisabeth (May 27, 2021). "Joanna Ho Knows the Virtue of Patience. She's a High School Vice Principal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Faust, Susan (May 11, 2021). "Children's author Joanna Ho wants a revolution of self-acceptance". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Matt McLernon, Lianna (May 22, 2024). "5 Questions with Author Joanna Ho". Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. Archived from the original on November 26, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Ong, Giannina (January 17, 2022). "Being Seen: Joanna Ho's 'Eyes' Brings Asian Representation to Picture Books". Mochi Magazine. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ Balbastro, Jackie (March 20, 2021). "Interview with Joanna Ho". Pine Reads Review. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  8. ↑ Yu, Yi-Jin (May 2, 2023). "Author mom shares why kids need more AANHPI children's books". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 15, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  9. ↑ "SCBWI Announces 2022 Golden Kite Awards". School Library Journal. March 18, 2022. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  10. ↑ Feddema, Sonya Vanderveen (May 24, 2024). "Eyes That Weave the World's Wonders". The Banner. Archived from the original on August 6, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  11. ↑ Delecki, Kevin (June 10, 2022). "Book review of The Silence That Binds Us". BookPage. Archived from the original on February 6, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  12. ↑ "2022-2023 Awards Winners". Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. Archived from the original on July 15, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Kidlit Happy Hour". Podbean. Archived from the original on May 19, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ Ford, Lindsey (October 29, 2025). "Authors say they were censored on 'book banning' tour at Bay Area school visit". KRON-TV. Archived from the original on November 3, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ Medina, Madilynne (October 31, 2025). "Authors leave Bay Area school after officials censor book ban talk". SFGate. Archived from the original on November 2, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Bio". Johanna Ho. Archived from the original on July 14, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
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