Exit Permit

by Y.S. Lee

20 pages, Paperback

Published October 5, 2023

About the author

Y S Lee was born in Singapore, raised in Vancouver and Toronto, and lived for a spell in England. As she completed her PhD in Victorian literature and culture, she began to research a story about a girl detective in 1850s London. The result was her debut novel, The Agency: A Spy in the House. This won the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s inaugural John Spray Mystery Award in 2011.

The Agency quartet continues with The Body at the Tower and The Traitor and the Tunnel, both of which were nominated for awards. Ying’s most recent novel, Rivals in the City, is the final book in the Agency series. All four books are published by Candlewick Press (US/Canada) and Walker Books (UK/Australia). The novels have also been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean and Turkish.

On Goodreads, she rates only books she really liked or loved.

Reviews

[Kelly Blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exit Permit is a quietly affecting picture book that trusts young readers with complex history and emotion. Y.S. Lee’s spare, measured language allows space for reflection, while the story’s focus on departure, uncertainty, and resilience makes its themes universally felt.

What makes this book especially powerful is its refusal to overexplain. Instead, it invites empathy through simplicity, making it an excellent introduction to difficult historical realities for children and a moving read for adults as well.

[Sophie Crocker]

we did a book swap it was awesome yay<3