Excerpt from China Dolls by Lisa See, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The next morning, I combed out my hair, sweeping up the sides and letting the curls billow below, the way Carole Lombard did in My Man Godfrey. I put on the dress my dad bought for me when he took us to Cincinnati to buy supplies for the laundry. I'd chosen a dusty- rose- colored cotton frock, with a geometric print composed of interlocking mustard- yellow and steel- gray squares. Mom said the pattern of the fabric and cut of the dress looked too mature for me— and maybe that was so— but now I considered myself lucky to be wearing something so sophisticated.

Filled with a sense of determination, I went downstairs and onto the street. I asked directions on nearly every corner and managed to find my way to the Ferry Building, where I boarded the boat to Treasure Island, about halfway across the bay and just under the Bay Bridge. I imagined everyone onboard was seeking a job at the Golden Gate International Exposition. As excited as I was, the pulse of the ferry through the choppy water roused my vertigo and my hunger until I felt, once again, dizzy and sick. Once we reached the dock, everyone walked fast, wanting to be first in line for interviews. Me too. I spotted my first palm trees, which was thrilling because they meant I surely was in California. I'd never seen anything like the fair's entrance. Giant towers composed of stacked cubes crowned by stylized elephants bookended the gate. Beyond, I glimpsed spires still clothed in scaffolding. My ears pounded from the sounds of hammers, the buzz of electric saws, the rumble of tractors, bulldozers, and flatbed trucks, and the shouts of men calling out orders and cursing the way they do on construction sites.

"Will they be done on time?" a man's voice asked very close to my ear.

I jumped, spiraling into the terror I experienced around my dad. I swung around to find a young Occidental man about six feet tall, with broad shoulders and sandy- colored hair. He put up his hands in surrender.

"I'm sorry I scared you." His mouth spread into a contrite smile as I met his deep blue eyes. He looked older than I— maybe around twenty. He extended his hand. "My name's Joe."

"I'm Grace." No last names. I liked that.

"I'm looking for a job as a rolling- chair boy." He didn't bother to explain what that was. "But the real reason I'm here is that I love planes, and I love to fly."

Up ahead, the others from the ferry disappeared through the gate. "I love planes so much that my parents told me if I got straight As in high school they'd let me take flying lessons," Joe continued, sure of my interest. "I trained in a Piper Cub. I learned how to take off, land, what to do in a stall, and how to pull out of a spin. Now I have my pilot's license."

This told me, among other things, that his family had to be pretty well- off.

"What does that have to do with rolling chairs?"

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Pan Am's Clipper ships are going to be taking off and landing right here at Treasure Island!"

I nodded, pretending interest when I didn't know what in the heck he was talking about.

"I've been chewing your ear off," Joe acknowledged. "Sorry about that. What are you doing here?"

"I'm a dancer."

"Neat." He pointed his chin toward the gate. "We'd better catch up."

When I stumbled a bit in my low- slung heels, he grabbed my arm to steady me, and I instinctively pulled away. His eyes went banjo big. I could tell he was about to apologize again.

"Where are you from?" I blurted, hoping to shift his attention.

"Winnetka, Illinois. I'm going to Cal." Seeing my confusion, he explained, "The University of California. It's over there." He pointed east. "In Berkeley. I live in a fraternity house. How about you?"

Excerpted from China Dolls by Lisa See. Copyright © 2014 by Lisa See. Excerpted by permission of Random House. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.