Prairie Lotus is a unique “fish out of water” novel set in Dakota Territory in 1880. Hanna, who is half Chinese, and her white father arrive in a small town where people have never seen an Asian person before. Some accept Hanna and her father as neighbors; others are mistrustful, even hostile. How is Hanna to navigate the complexities of her new surroundings, among people who don’t know her but hate her anyway? Themes of trying to fit in, wanting to feel at home, and struggling to become independent anchor this poignant, powerful story of a girl coming of age in a country doing the same.