Book Club: "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang

For our next book club meeting, let's read and discuss "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang! There are currently 34 copies available at the library (as of 3/2/2026) as well as the audiobook so it should be easy to get!

We will plan to meet at the Burlingame Public Library in study room C or D, located on the lower level (note that food is not allowed in the study rooms, but beverages are okay). The study rooms can only be booked 7 days in advance, so in the event that both rooms are booked, we will relocate the meeting to a cafe or dessert shop that is open late. I will keep attendees posted the week of!

Everyone will be waitlisted initially, as space is limited in the study rooms. Priority will be given to previous attendees of book club and regular attendees of the group. For details on attendance & waitlist, please see the "About us" description for the group.

Book Summary - "Yellowface" by R.F. Kuang
Publication Year: 2023
Page Count: 323

Authors Juniper Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena is a literary darling while June is a nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls?, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse, stealing Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserves to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.