Helena Ku Rhee is a writer of books for kids and the young at heart. Her latest book, Sora’s Seashells, will be released on May 9, 2023. Her books also include Rosa’s Song as well as its companion book The Paper Kingdom (both illustrated by Pascal Campion and published by Penguin Random House), which was a #1 Indie Bestseller and included on many year-end Best Books lists, including NPR, BookPage, Kirkus, Parents Magazine, the Los Angeles Public Library, and Amazon, among others. She also wrote The Turtle Ship and The No-Shoes Home (forthcoming 2025).
Helena is also an essayist and her essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Salon.
Helena is currently based in Los Angeles (her hometown), but she has also lived in various parts of the U.S., Asia and Europe. She loves to travel far and wide across this beautiful planet, counting among her favorite journeys a camping trip in the Sahara, a swim with elephants in Thailand and a horseback-riding tour of Easter Island. She draws story ideas from her travels as well as her childhood.
Listen to Helena’s moving 6-minute interview on NPR.