My debut novel, A Good Daughter's Ghost, is coming out October 6, 2026. 

The story follows 17-year-old Rachel Bei, who refuses to believe in ghosts like her medium mom. But when a seemingly perfect babysitting gig turns creepy, then gruesome, she’s forced to reconsider. Drawing on Chinese folklore, this dark, immersive novel confronts family secrets, the audacity of whiteness, and the ghosts we carry with us.  

The singular Marcela Bolívar created the incredible cover art. I still get chills every time I look at it.

If you're intrigued by the story and/or would like to support my art because you're a gem, I'd be incredibly grateful!

The best ways to support are by:

1) Pre-ordering the book, ideally from your local indie bookstore! On the website, click "shop local" and enter your postal code to find a local bookstore to order from (though I'm not sure if this works outside of North America?) 

2) Requesting the book at your local library, by going to your local library's website and searching the catalogue for A Good Daughter's Ghost. 

Thanks so much for considering reading A Good Daughter's Ghost! Your support means so much, and I can't wait to hear what you think. 

It's a few months before my book is out in the wild, but lucky for us there's an endless supply of great books to devour. This week I'm recommending a weird, wonderful murder mystery set on a generation ship.

- Sam

Asuka is one of 80 crew members on The Phoenix, a spaceship on a one-way mission to colonize a planet orbiting a new sun. 

But when Asuka is the only survivor of a space walk gone wrong, she finds herself in the role of detective, racing against time and a broken AI to find out which of her 79 crewmates committed the crime–and why.

This book is a slow burn, with the mystery elements really picking up about halfway. But if you enjoy Kitasei’s writing, as I do, that’s part of the fun. 

Asuka in particular is a fascinating, imperfect protagonist. She’s obsessed with birds, haunted by her brother’s death, and caught in between her two homelands, the U.S. and Japan, feeling like she belongs to both but also neither, a feeling that I think will be familiar to many other mixed-raced folks.