Last week, Sara '26 took to the stage as a published author at the 2026 Bologna Children's Book Fair! Over 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries and 32,000 publishing professionals from across the globe came together at the world's most prestigious gathering in children's publishing, and we are thrilled that one of our students earned this opportunity to be an exhibitor at such an important event in the world of children's literature!

In conversation with Michelle Turner (LAS Director of Institutional Advancement), Sara presented her debut book, What If Li Bai Roamed the Alps?. Described as "A Journey Across Poetry, Cultures, and Imagination," the story is an engaging and imaginative work that blends Sara's two distinct cultural worlds: Shanghai, China and the Swiss Alps.

A Story Where Poetry Restores the World
Written for readers aged 9 to 16, What If Li Bai Roamed the Alps? begins with a crisis. The natural balance of the Alps is breaking down, and the goddess Danu has fallen into a deep sleep. The key to restoring that balance? Poetry.

At the heart of the story is Maple Lin, a Chinese-Swiss girl living in the Alps, who forms an unexpected bond with a mysterious talking red fox, Dian. Together they open a portal through time, linking the modern world to the Tang Dynasty and drawing scholar Li Mu Bai into the present. Joined by her friends Maya and Andreas, Maple sets out on a journey to restore balance to the region—one that calls on courage, imagination, and an understanding of the world that crosses both cultures and centuries. The premise is inventive and layered, blending the real Alpine environments that Sara experiences here at LAS, with richly imagined elements, and classical Chinese poetry.

Inspired by Her Mother, Shaped by Two Cultures
Inspired by her mother's love of Tang poetry, Sara studied the classic Chinese genre and through that process began to see "those poetic images come to life in snow-covered peaks, moonlight, and the stillness of the Alps"—recognizing that the landscape she lived in was already speaking the language of the poems she was reading.

That insight became the foundation of the book. As Sara explained during the conversation at Bologna, she was drawn to the way poetry expresses complex emotions through simple language, and she wanted to translate that emotional depth into a narrative form—one that would make poetry more accessible and engaging for younger readers without losing any of its power.

Growing up between cultures deeply influenced how she sees identity and belonging, and that perspective shapes every layer of the story. Her goal was to create something that resonates across cultures: a book that builds bridges rather than borders, and that invites readers from any background to find themselves somewhere in its pages.

A Message for Young Readers
Sara's message through her work is clear and generous: imagination can change the way we see the world, and stories can build bridges between cultures. The values she wanted her story to carry—courage, cooperation, responsibility and commitment, passion, and cultural literacy—are not incidental to the plot but woven into who Maple Lin and her companions are, and what they are asked to do.

In writing this book, Sara also gave herself a goal she describes with quiet clarity: to bring poetry alive for young readers, to encourage imagination, to connect different cultures, and to inspire curiosity. For anyone who has ever felt caught between worlds, or uncertain of where they belong, What If Li Bai Roamed the Alps? offers something rare—a story that says the in-between is not a problem to be solved, but a gift.

Giving Back
Befitting the values and character behind the work, Sara has chosen to donate all royalties from the book to U-Lai, an educational charity organization she has been connected to for several years. The cause is close to the LAS community as well: the school's China service trip this spring supported U-Lai directly, making the book's success a shared one.

We are so impressed by Sara's wonderful story and the spirit in which she wrote it. Sara's book debut at Bologna is a truly moment to celebrate!