Jade River

A spellbinding, dreamy and irresistibly romantic magical-realist story set in Shanghai, where a shimmering school swimming pool hides a gateway to a flooded mirror world

When fifteen-year-old Leah relocates to Shanghai with her parents, she dreads the thought of starting over somewhere new. But Jade River International School is unlike any other. Perched where the city meets the sea, strange secrets hide behind its immaculate facade: a room full of cloudlike orchids, vanishing cats and a swimming pool that shimmers with a dazzling blue light.

Leah soon makes friends in the charismatic Viv and Sam, and finds herself increasingly drawn to Hunter, who might even feel the same way about her. But one night, Leah discovers that the swimming pool is a gateway to another world – a flooded world where waves crash into a ruined Jade River, now covered in twisted vines and iridescent shells. As the summer dance nears, Leah and her friends must piece together the dark truth at the heart of Jade River, before it pulls them under.

About the author

Nina Mingya Powles is a poet and writer from Aotearoa New Zealand based in London. Her debut poetry collection, Magnolia 木蘭, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She is the author of several books of creative nonfiction including Tiny Moons, a food memoir, and Small Bodies of Water, winner of the inaugural Nan Shepherd Prize. Gathering: On Sewing and the Fabric of Memory, is forthcoming in 2026. Jade River is her fiction debut, and her first novel for young adults.

@ninamingya | www.ninapowles.com