Katie Zhao Books in Order

Katie Zhao grew up in Michigan, in the kind of place where the library and bookstore could feel like whole worlds. She has said there was not much to do except read and fill writing journals, which helps explain why stories got hold of her early.

She started young.

One of her first big turning points came in college. Zhao studied at the University of Michigan, earning a BA in English and political science in 2017 and a master's in accounting in 2018, but she was writing all through those years. As a sophomore, a story she posted on Wattpad won a Watty Award and drew nearly a million reads. That mix of formal study and online storytelling still feels very Katie Zhao, bookish, ambitious, and happy to meet readers where they are.

For a while, though, the practical path seemed to be winning. After graduate school she was working in accounting in Michigan while also trying to build a writing career. In early 2018 she signed with an agent, and once a book deal followed, the split between the life she had planned and the life she wanted became harder to ignore.

So she chose the riskier version.

Zhao moved to New York City in January 2019, a change she has described as a way to find both creative community and a stronger sense of self. That move matters when you look at the books. Her stories often follow kids and teens who are caught between expectations and desire, family duty and self-definition, safety and freedom.

Her debut, The Dragon Warrior, and its sequel, The Fallen Hero, brought Chinese mythology into a fast-moving middle grade adventure about Faryn Liu, a girl trying to prove herself while dealing with family secrets, demons, dragons, and betrayal. Readers who like big quests get that here, but the emotional core is just as important: siblings, belonging, and the question of who gets to be the hero.

She has also written sharp contemporary thrillers. How We Fall Apart takes the pressure cooker of an elite prep school and turns it into a murder mystery full of secrets, status games, and academic stress. The Lies We Tell shifts to a college campus and adds a colder, more grounded fear, with racism, safety, and a long-unsolved murder pressing in on Anna Xu. Zhao likes tension, but she also likes asking what pressure does to young people.

Her middle grade books stretch in other directions, too. Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend opens a funny, myth-filled series about a Michigan girl, a family cookbook, and a lot of evil spirits. Last Gamer Standing heads into esports and online harassment through Reyna Cheng, a gamer chasing a tournament win for reasons that are painfully real. More recently, Zodiac Rising and Zodiac Legacy move into darker YA fantasy, with a hidden Manhattan boarding school, cursed descendants of the Chinese zodiac, and a heist threaded through dark academia.

Today Zhao lives in New York City. When she isn't reading or writing, she has said she's usually listening to music, singing karaoke, or wandering the city in search of a little magic. That last detail feels on brand. Her books live at the meeting point of ordinary pressure and something larger, stranger, and a lot more fun.