Ann Liang

Ann Liang ( born 8 March 2000) is a Chinese and Australian author best known for her young adult romance novels. In October 2024, Liang made her adult debut with A Song to Drown Rivers, which became a Good Morning America book club pick. At age ten, she moved back to Beijing, moving and attending various international schools, the longest being Beijing International School. She moved back to Australia when she was fifteen. She attended Korowa Anglican Girls' School, and was the class of 2017's dux. In that same year, in 2016, she published her first work called "A Sketch of Perfection" in the anthology, My First Lesson: Stories Inspired by Laurinda, by Alice Pung. At the time of her debut, she had freshly graduated from the University of Melbourne, with a bachelor's degree in History and Media Communications.

Career

2022–2023: Young adult debut On February 2, 2021, Liang announced through Instagram that she would debuting in fall 2022 with her young adult novel, If You Could See the Sun. The book won the Readings Prize Young Adult Book Prize,

Liang's third YA novel, I Hope This Doesn't Find You, released on February 6, 2024. It reached number seven on the New York Times Best Seller list for young adult hardcover books, and was a finalist for the Queensland Literary Awards Young Adult Book Award. and was chosen for the Good Morning America book club.

Liang's fourth novel, I Am Not Jessica Chen, was going to be released in summer 2024, but was pushed back to January 28, 2025. Never Thought I'd End Up Here debuted as number two on the New York Times Best Seller list for young adult hardcover books.

On June 30, 2025, Liang announced that her seventh young adult book, I Could Give You the Moon, a spinoff to If You Could See the Sun, would release on April 14, 2026.

2026–present: If I Could Give You the Moon, The Lost Life of Sylvia Song, To Dream in Darkness On October 16, 2025, Liang announced she had finished a manuscript for a book entitled TLLOSS, an abbreviation that she revealed stood for The Lost Life of Sylvia Song. The book's release date was confirmed to be on January 5, 2027. She subsequently announced on January 3, 2026, following If I Could Give You the Moon, that there would be a second release later this year entitled To Dream in Darkness, which will be released on October 27, 2026.

Writing style and themes Liang's works center on self-expression; a consistent, coming-of-age theme of her first three novels' characters, Alice Sun, Eliza Lin, and Sadie Wen. Another of her major themes is the Asian diaspora experience, with the former two being students who have found disparity with their home country due to being abroad, and the latter growing up in an English-speaking country. The three of them are characterized by their lack of language fluency in Mandarin Chinese. This trend continues as a major plot point with the release of Never Thought I'd End Up Here, where it follows Chinese-American Leah Zhang and her trip in Shanghai after she flubs up a family wedding toast with her paltry Mandarin skills.

Liang's books first two books take place in international schools, departing with I Hope This Doesn't Find You. This is influenced by Liang's childhood, as she attended at least six different schools in Beijing growing up. Liang's earliest inspiration was R.L. Stine.

Aside from English, Liang is fluent in Mandarin.

Awards Year Title Award Category Result 2022If You Could See the Sun Goodreads Choice Awards Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Aurealis Award Young Adult Novel 2023 Readings Prize Young Adult Book 2024 I Hope This Doesn't Find YouQueensland Literary Awards Young Adult Book 2026 I Am Not Jessica Chen Locus Award Young Adult Novel