Taking photos of birds in nature is one of author and OIS seventh grader Harmony Yu’s favorite pastimes.
Writing three books in three years is a pretty impressive feat – especially when those three years are a quarter of your life. For Harmony Yu, a seventh grader at Orinda Intermediate School, writing comes naturally, as a way to satisfy her curiosity and express her passion about animals and the environment.
Yu is a voracious reader, especially of non-fiction. According to her mother, her daughter doesn’t care much for the typical Netflix or Disney fare popular among her peers. She prefers watching documentaries – mostly about wildlife and nature. So strong is her pull to real stories that Yu said her mom spent a month convincing her to watch Avatar.
Harmony’s parents – Jane Yu, a graduate student at UC Berkeley School of Education, and Dan Yu, an artificial intelligence scientist – foster their only child’s interests in many ways, including visiting zoos, aquariums and museums wherever they travel.
Read on to learn more about Harmony, her books and her pet bunny.
Where do you get the ideas for your books?
I read a lot and I get ideas from reading. One year I tracked my reading on an app and I read an average of 200 pages per day. The things I read about are fun and then I think I want to write about them and so I do. Sometimes I get ideas when I’m in the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
What motivated you to start writing books?
During COVID I took a fanfiction Wings of Fire (a series of fantasy novels) class online. I was kind of bored with the assigned homework from school, so I decided to do something on my own.
Your first book, Blizzard in a Rainforest is about a snow leopard which is a victim of illegal pet trade. How did you learn about this issue?
I was reading about sand cats purchased illegally as pets and I thought people would definitely do that with a snow leopard, because they’re so exotic and fluffy.
Your Amazon.com bio says you write “to give people a window into the secret and sometimes very unfair lives of animals.” What do you mean by that?
Humans tend to be really egocentric and ignore animals. People act selfishly and that’s not good for animals or the ecosystem and it’s not good for humans either. Humans depend on the ecosystem to survive.
Who illustrates your books?
I illustrate them myself, with the help of my art teacher, Pang Yen Chou. I’ve been taking art classes since I was nine.
Can you tell us about your bunny and why you decided on a rabbit as a pet?
His name is Spot. He’s very feisty and very smart. He knows his name and he knows when we don’t want him to go somewhere. He’ll go there anyway, but before he goes, he looks to make sure we’re not watching.
I wanted a bunny because I was born in the (Chinese) Year of the Rabbit.
What are the characteristics of someone born in the Year of the Rabbit?
Astrology is so vague that it fits anyone.
Do you know why your parents named you Harmony?
It’s similar to my Chinese name, Hanshi. It’s also reflective of how they wanted me to be – harmonious and peaceful.
Besides writing, what do you like to do?
I like to read. Sometimes I do arts and crafts. I like to go outside and stand in the backyard for hours taking pictures of birds. In the summer I’m on a swim team.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
For the past few years I’ve been thinking about being a marine biologist, then I got interested in birds, so now I don’t know if it’s marine biology or ornithology, maybe marine ornithology.
What role have your parents played in helping you pursue your passions?
Ever since I was little, my mom encouraged me to read a lot. When I started to develop my own interests, my parents supported me, no matter what. Right now, that’s taking me on hikes and signing me up for birding events. Also, membership to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and trips to zoos and natural history
museums.
Anything you want to add?
People should try to understand nature more.
Thank you to Harmony’s neighbors, Albert and Helen Greenberg, who brought her to our attention. If you know someone who lives or works in Orinda who should be featured in Meet Your Neighbor, please email editor@theorindanews.com.
