Little Jade

Katherine Haas came to the United States on a ship, at the young age of eleven. The next few decades unfolded a lifetime of adventure as this young Chinese-German woman navigated identity, culture, and politics in a world different from the one she was raised in. 

Little Jade is Katherine's whimsical meditation on a life well lived. It seeks to answer questions around what makes us who we are, as she meanders through the valleys and troughs of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Author Katherine Haas was born in 1937 in Germany. Shortly thereafter, her family moved first to Italy, then to China and, when Katherine was 11, to the United States. Adjusting to new languages and cultures was challenging, and often discouraging. Katherine hopes readers of this book will never be ashamed to be different or an outsider, as she was. She loved raising three daughters with her husband Ray, teaching third and fourth graders for 44 years, and banding birds. Katherine lives in Maryland with her second husband, Robert Feldmann, who found her as a merry widow in 2014. She spends her retirement having fun learning new languages.

A scintillating and beautifully-crafted account of a life shaped by the intersection of many nations, races, and world events, this lush narrative shows how the immigrant experience is not monolithic, but a story with as many unique and profound variations as there are human beings. — Ada Palmer, internationally award-winning author of Terra Ignota and Inventing the Renaissance

Katherine’s story, told with a grace and rhythm befitting a dancer, is replete with poignant history and delightful serendipity. I read her vibrant story in one sitting, feeling outraged at injustices suffered and in awe of the triumphs of love and courage. I am so thankful for my time with Little Jade. — Nadia Hashimi, internationally bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

Always too European to be Chinese and too Chinese to be European, Little Jade’s enchanting story of resilience inspires with its honesty and optimism. — Helen Zia, Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution