Internationally known author Malindo Lo visits Malden High for book presentation

Young adult novelist is a National Book Award winner

  Internationally known young adult novelist Malinda Lo engaged with a lively group of students at Malden High School to discuss her newest, award-winning book.

  “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” is a historical tale set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950s following a teenage American-born Chinese woman coming to terms with her homosexuality during the McCarthy Red Scare in 1950s San Francisco. Released in 2021, the novel was adapted from a short story she wrote for the 2018 anthology All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages.”

  A group of about 40 students gathered in the Malden High School library as Lo, a Massachusetts resident, discussed her background and her writing, then read some passages from “Last Night at the Telegraph Club.” Following her reading, Lo fielded questions from some of the students taking part in the presentation, several of them related to her own background and career.

  The appearance was coordinated through the efforts of the Boston Book Festival’s Shelf Help Program and Malden High School Librarian Mary Liberge.

  Liberge said it was an honor to have hosted such a prestigious and well-known author and that it was a “great experience” for the students to hear from such a successful professional firsthand.

  In addition to delivering the in-person presentation, Lo brought a large supply of new copies of “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” which were distributed free to all students in attendance. A supply of the book is still available at no charge at the MHS Library.

  Several of Lo’s other young adult novels are also on extended display in the Malden High School library for students to read.