Join bestselling author Stacey Lee, The New York Public Library, and teens across the country for a special virtual discussion of The Downstairs Girl, the latest title in our national Teen Banned Book Club.

Do you have questions for Stacey Lee?

Email us: [email protected]

Get the Book Today—Free!

Readers anywhere in the U.S. can borrow The Downstairs Girl for free from the "Books for All" library on SimplyE, NYPL's e-reader app. The book is available to all readers ages 13 and above through April 30, 2024. Learn more and download the app for iOS or Android to get reading!

About the Book

By day, 17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

About Stacey Lee

Stacey Lee is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of historical and contemporary young adult fiction, including The Downstairs Girl, a Reese’s Book Club Late Summer 2021 YA pick, and her most recent novel, Luck of the Titanic, which received five starred reviews. A native of southern California and fourth-generation Chinese American, she is a founder of the We Need Diverse Books movement and writes stories for all kids (even the ones who look like adults).

Stacey loves board games, has perfect pitch, and through some mutant gene, can smell musical notes through her nose.