She began writing as a method to cope with homesickness while at Cornell. She entered the Council for Interracial Books for Children's annual short story contest with her piece "Sing to the Dawn." The award-winning story was published in 1947 and was followed by three other novels written over the next five years. Minfong Ho was born in China but grew up in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Barnard College, she moved to New York City where she worked as an editor for several publishing companies before turning to writing full time. Her first novel, Sing to the Dawn, was published in 1947 when she was only 25 years old. It was followed by three more novels over the next five years. In 1952, Ho went back to school to get her MFA degree in creative writing from New York University. She later became a professor of English at Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center. Ho wrote about subjects such as racism, sexism, and homophobia in both historical and contemporary settings. Her work was praised for its authenticity and insight into modern life. She died in New York City in 2006 at the age of 88. After reading Sing to the Dawn, it becomes clear that this novel is a prequel to Angel Street, which we will read about in part 2.