Parachute

PARACHUTE by Katherine Tolentino focuses on Wendy, a Chinese "parachute" high school student in America. Parachute kids are students who are sent to go to school in the US without their parents. She has been living with an American family for three years when a new student from China, Mei-Ling, arrives. The two disagree on how to go about their respective lives in America, which forces each of them to question their place in the world, especially as outsiders in an American high school. Tolentino’s short feels universal even though it's very specific in scope. And just like with any good coming-of-age story, it feels deeply relatable no matter where you come from.

—Bennett Levine, Executive Assistant