Best known for her New York Times bestselling books, Jenny Han has become a household name. While she is popular as the author of the “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” book series, Han is much more than that. The Korean-American writer has gone from writing to creating her own screen projects. Altogether, major networks have picked up some of her books for screen adaptations.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” have both been adapted for TV. Following the resounding success of the film project, Han created XO, Kitty for Netflix as a spin-off of the To All the Boys film series. The Netflix original television series was released on May 18, 2023, with Han taking credit as the sole creator and an executive producer. Read more interesting facts you probably didn’t know about Jenny Han.
1. Jenny Han Writes Young Adult and Children’s Fiction
A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Janny Han has written many books in the young adult and children’s fiction genres. The first book she published is a children’s fiction titled “Shug (2006). So far, she has written two books in the children’s fiction genre.
Han’s books are mostly trilogies, starting with The Summer I Turned Pretty in 2009. The piece spawned “It’s Not Summer Without You” (2010) and “We’ll Always Have Summer” (2011). Her next trilogy, which she co-authored with Siobhan Vivian, started with “Burn for Burn” (2012), while “Fire with Fire” (2013) and “Ashes to Ashes” (2014) completed it.
Perhaps her most popular piece, the first book in the “To All the Boys” series, was published in 2014. This was followed by “P.S. I Still Love You” (2015) and “Always and Forever, Lara Jean” (2017) as part of the trilogy. Han’s other books include the children’s book “Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream” (2011) and “My True Love Gave To Me: Twelve Holiday Stories” (2014). Her books are published in different languages to accommodate her myriad of fans.
2. She Has Korean Ancestry
While she was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Jenny Han is originally from South Korea. She was born to Korean-American parents who raised her to appreciate her ancestral culture, and that can be sensed in her stories. Han grew up with a younger sister with whom she shares a close bond. She describes her as her favorite person, dedicating “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” to her.
3. The To All the Boys Book Series Writer Has A Master of Fine Arts In Creative Writing
In her budding days, Jenny Han attended Governor’s School for Government and International Studies and graduated with her high school diploma in 1998. She went on to get a college degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Han furthered her education at The New School, where she bagged her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. During her studies at The New School, Han met fellow writer Siobhan Vivian. The pair collaborated on the “Burn for Burn” trilogy project.
4. Jenny Han Makes Cameos In Adaptations Of Her Books
Besides being an executive producer ad showrunner, Han also makes cameo appearances in the screen adaptions of her novels. The first cameo she made was in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”, starring Lana Condor in the lead role. Netflix released the film in August 2018 to positive reviews. Han also made a cameo appearance in the last episode of “The Summer I Turned Pretty”.
5. Jenny Han Wrote Her First Novel In College
“Shug”, Han’s first novel, was published in 2006, the same year she received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. She started writing children’s novels while in college, and the piece ultimately elevated her. The novel is about a 12-year-old named Annemarie Wilcox. Much like the subsequent novels she wrote, it follows the coming-of-age culture. After “Shug”, Jenny Han launched her trilogy streak, spawning three unique projects from 2009 to 2017.
6. The Summer I Turned Pretty Was Slightly Modified For The TV Adaptation
Amazon Prime released the television series based on Jenny Han’s book series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”, in June 2022. As seen on the original book cover of the trilogy, the story’s protagonist/narrator, Belly Conklin, is supposed to be Caucasian. However, in the television adaption, Belly is biracial with a white dad and a Korean-American mom. Ultimately, Belly’s mom’s name was also changed from Laurel Dunne to Laurel Park. The television series also sports many openly gay characters, with one of the main characters (Jeremiah) being bisexual.
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