This is a work that captivates me. Wit, whimsy, and wonder seem to be the essential elements of such works. Chang Xiaoyu lets dreams unleash the reins of imagination, connecting the unreal with the real. It has the breadth of fantasy and the height of reality—a fine work that brings valuable fantasy back to literature.
—Cao Wenxuan, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award

A rather 'mind-bending' fantasy novel. It completely overturns the familiar worldview in which human civilization is perpetuated through reproduction, coherently fabricating a 'Chaotic Gene Layer'... The writer has chosen a more complex and arduous artistic path.
—China Reading Weekly

At first glance humorous and witty, the work actually conceals deeper meaning. Roles are reversed, the world turned upside down: children must bear the burden of criticizing, educating, and managing their parents, while the parents lack self-discipline and stumble through one mishap after another.
—Literary News

★ Recommended by Cao Wenxuan, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award: "A work that captivates me. Witty, imaginative, and whimsical—Chang Xiaoyu lets dreams unleash the reins of imagination, connecting the unreal with the real. It has the breadth of fantasy and the height of reality—a fine work that brings valuable fantasy back to literature." Rated 9.5 on Douban!
★ Written by Chang Xiaoyu, winner of the Bing Xin Children's Literature Award and the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award "Chinese Newcomer Award," with illustrations by Hei Mi, winner of the Golden Apple Award at the International Illustration Exhibition.
★ A fantasy love letter to the world and to childhood. The talking black cat "Black Qiqi" takes readers through different "layers" into a world where children can independently "adopt" their parents. Through absurd role reversal, it reflects the lack of understanding and respect between parents and children.
★ At first glance humorous and witty, the book actually explores the possibility of empathy and achievable compromises between parents and children within acceptable boundaries. It is a book that makes both parents and children pause and think: "How on earth should we get along?"

Set off to find the perfect parents!

Yu Doufu's little hamster "Suosuo," whom she had raised for over a year, was given away by her mother without her consent. The emotional cold violence—a lack of respect—triggered the little girl's rebellious spirit. A thought began to "buzz" in her mind: "If one day, like Suosuo, I were to disappear from my mother's life for no reason, how would she feel?"
At that moment, a talking black cat named "Black Qiqi" appeared. It led Yu Doufu through different "layers" into a world called the "Chaotic Gene Layer," where children could independently "adopt" their parents. Here, children are not passively born to a set of parents; instead, they take charge and visit a Parent Adoption Company to "adopt" parents according to their own wishes.
Yu Doufu first tried "personalized customization," selecting a pair of perfect parents according to her specifications—only to discover they were robots, manufactured on demand, operating by program, and emotionally cold. After angrily "returning" them, she found a pair of human parents through "gene matching" who were similar to her by nature. But they were too much like her—lazy, timid, and clumsy—and eventually ran away from home together.

This forced her and her little companion to travel through the layers once again, searching for Black Qiqi and for the answers hidden along the journey of growing up...

Chang Xiaoyu
She majored in English Language and Literature at Sichuan University and later earned a Master of Arts from the University of Sydney. She is a member of the China Writers Association and works as a children's literature editor.
Her works include the coming-of-age novels The Black Cat Woke Me Up and Duoqi's World, the science fiction novel The Universe's Teeth, the middle-grade fairy tales Don't Run, Paper Sprite and The Mysterious Five Grains School, and the essay collection Dad's Two Childhoods. Her short story The Dog Without Wings won the 2017 Bing Xin Children's Literature New Work Award. In 2023, she received the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award "Chinese Newcomer Award."