This novel-in-poems chronicles the life of Xiaomei, an immigrant girl haunted by the death of her best friend. Told through a kaleidoscopic braid of storie, letters, and riddles, this stunning debut collection follows Xiaomei's life as she grows into her sexuality and searches for a way to deal with her complicated histories. At times, meditation, celebration, and investigation, and elegy , this is a book about personal transformation within the context of a family forced to make do- a Makeshift Family- and how one might create new language to name the New World.