The Phoenix Pencil Company author Allison King got through puberty by reading Prince of Tennis fan fiction – debutiful

Allison King is a software engineer by day and is now the debut author of The Phoenix Pencil Company. Her debut novel, selected as a Reese’s Book Club pick, follows a college freshman who uncovers her family’s secret magic that allows memories to be relived through Reforged pencils, leading her on a journey to recover her grandmother’s fading past. Blending generational saga with quiet fantasy, the novel explores the enduring power of memory, storytelling, and the ties that bind.

King’s short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others.

We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life.

What was the first book you were obsessed with as a child?

The first book I remember reading by myself was Nate the Great, featuring a boy detective who solved mysteries, and if he was stumped, he would eat a bunch of pancakes and that would somehow help him solve the mystery. One of the books included a pancake recipe and I remember I tried making it and it turned out pretty horribly (no doubt my fault for being a youngster trying to crack eggs and not the recipe’s fault!). When I was a bit older I was super into Redwall, particularly the feasts they would have (the vittles!). I suppose food drove a lot of my reading tastes as a kid.

What book helped you through puberty?

Probably more fan fiction than any one book. That was around the time I was discovering anime, so I remember reading a lot of Prince of Tennis fan fiction, then discovering that some of my real-life classmates were also doing the same thing, and they quickly became my closest friends. It is such a lucky thing, to go through a dramatic time of life with friends who are also so obsessed with a story they have to read and create more of it. 

What book do you think all teenagers should be assigned in school?

Especially for American teenagers, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, which was both more enjoyable and more informative than anything I had read in history class.

If you were to teach a class on Damn Good Writing, what books would make the syllabus?

There’s way too many books that would fit this category, so I’ll narrow it down and continue my food theme, but head towards the Asian food aisle now—maybe the class is now called Damn Good Asian Food Writing?—Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart, C Pam Zhang’s Land of Milk and Honey, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue (translated by Lin King), Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars. All of those use food in a way I found to be incredibly emotional and moving, whether examining grief or climate change or colonial power dynamics or an alien donut shop. 

What books helped guide you while writing your book?

Helen Zia’s Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution kickstarted my interest in 1940s Shanghai. I love everything by Ruth Ozeki, but in particular, A Tale for the Time Being was a guiding light for this book. 

What books are on your nightstand now?