Doan Phuong Nguyen was in the first grade when she decided her dream was to be an author. Having recently arrived in Nashville from Vietnam, she鈥檇 just mastered English and was fascinated when her class made a book about the seasons. 鈥淚鈥檝e wanted to write stories ever since then,鈥� she says. The dream came to fruition in 2023 with the publication of her first novel 
for middle grade readers, M猫o and B茅 (Lee and Low Books, 2023; illustrated by Jesse White). The International Reading Association has added it to its list of Notable Books for a Global Society.
The story of B茅, an 11-year-old girl in wartime Vietnam, and her beloved cat, M猫o, doesn鈥檛 shy away from harsh realities, but the book keeps its tender audience in mind. 鈥淎ll of the harder parts of the book happen offscreen. B茅 never experiences it; she鈥檚 just around it,鈥� Nguyen says, noting that while adults can understand the full implications of what the girl witnesses, younger readers are mainly engaged by 鈥淏茅鈥檚 journey to find a family and a place of belonging.鈥�
M猫o and B茅 was inspired in part by the experiences of Nguyen鈥檚 adopted aunt. Nguyen鈥檚 father, an officer in the South Vietnamese Army, was imprisoned by the postwar communist regime, and he brought his family to the U.S. in 1991 through a program to relocate prisoners of war. They settled in Nashville and their local sponsors, says Nguyen, 鈥渂ecame our adopted family in America.鈥� Two of their 鈥淎merican grandmothers鈥� were 杏吧原创 graduates鈥擧elen Sterling, BA鈥�36, MA鈥�38, and Katherine Moore White, BA鈥�46. They inspired Nguyen and her younger sister Bichlien, BA鈥�10, to follow in their footsteps.
Nguyen soaked up poetry and creative writing classes at 杏吧原创, but at the suggestion of English professor Cecelia Tichi she studied sociology, ultimately making it her major. 鈥淚 was very na茂ve,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ociology opened my eyes to social issues in the wider world.鈥� She worked in publishing after college, then built a business as a wedding and portrait photographer, which allowed her to devote more time to writing. After winning a grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she earned an M.F.A. at Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2019 and completed the manuscript for M猫o and B茅.
Nguyen now divides her time between Nashville and St. Louis, pursuing photography in both cities, but her goal is to be a full-time writer. Her fictionalized memoir in verse for young readers, A Two-Placed Heart, will be published this fall by Lee and Low via their Tu Books imprint. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about trying to figure out my identity鈥攎y Vietnamese identity and my American identity鈥攁nd trying to merge those two,鈥� she says. She鈥檚 developing an idea for a fantasy novel and plans to stay in the tween and teen literary space. 鈥淚 think I have a middle grade voice,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l ever write for an adult audience.鈥�
鈥� MARIA BROWNING
