Sue Cheung author page

Sue Cheung biography

Sue Cheung is a writer and illustrator of children’s books. She was born in the Midlands to Chinese parents who emigrated to England in the 1960s and opened a restaurant. Her drawing led to a scholarship to The London College of Fashion, followed by a course in advertising and illustration. She then worked in an agency sketching storyboards, visualising press and billboard advertisements and illustrating, and later spent many years in London as an art director.

Her young adult novel Chinglish was published by Andersen Press in 2019. The book is written in diary form and includes doodle illustrations. It follows Jo Kwan, a teenager growing up in Coventry in the 1980s, and addresses family life, school, racism, bullying and the experience of living above a Chinese takeaway.

Cheung created the Maddy Yip series for younger readers. Maddy Yip’s Guide to Life was published in paperback on 5 August 2021 and combines a comic family story with illustrations; it follows Maddy as she tries to discover a talent with help from her brothers, her grandad and her best friend Dev. Maddy Yip’s Guide to Holidays was published on 5 May 2022, and Maddy Yip’s Guide to Parties has Sue Cheung as both author and illustrator.

Chinglish has been used in school reading contexts for secondary pupils, including a Year Seven author-visit programme in Leicester. A later classroom resource for ages 9–12 included Maddy Yip’s Guide to Holidays by Sue Cheung.