English and creative writing faculty member Soma Mei Sheng Frazier recently became the first SUNY Oswego professor to author the book selected for summer campuswide reading through the longstanding Oswego Reading Initiative (ORI) with her novel “Off the Books.”

“Oswego has had so many fabulous professors who were authors, so I feel so honored to come along at the right time to be the first ORI author from SUNY Oswego,” Frazier said.

“It is truly an honor to see one of our own become the ORI author,” Rameen Mohammadi, chair of the ORI Committee and associate provost for undergraduate and special programs, said in announcing the selection of “Off the Books” for the 2026-27 academic year. “This is the first time in 25 years for the ORI program where the book has been written by an Oswego faculty member.”

Each year, first-year students are encouraged to read the ORI selection over the summer and discuss with each other and with others when they come to campus. Various programs connect with the selection along the way.

Frazier will address the campus community in the fall semester with two special ORI events on Sept. 23. She will talk with the Living Writers Series class in the afternoon, with her main talk to the campus community starting at 7 p.m. in the Hewitt Hall ballroom. A book signing will follow.

“Off the Books” earned critical acclaim for deftly walking a tightrope of an engaging character-driven story and a serious exploration of international atrocities in China.

The plot of the book -- which earned glowing reviews from the likes of the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle -- involves Mei, a twentysomething Chinese-American Ivy League dropout who drives clients with discrete needs (hence “off the books”), mainly around the California Bay Area. When she takes on a cross-country assignment with Henry, a handsome mysterious gentleman with a big secret, she finds herself drawn into romance, adventure and international intrigue.

Global topics

“I think ORI-winning writers are often focusing on a microcosm that makes the story personal to some people and the macrocosm that makes it relevant to everyone,” Frazier said. “Because this book deals with a larger issue, it fits in with a close focus on a character and her personal journey but it’s also about world issues. As MLK famously said: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’”

The character-driven novel “focuses a lot on Mei’s character as she figures out more about the larger world, even as she’s dealing with issues in her own little world.”

Behind the playful banter of Mei and Henry is a serious, inescapable plot involving China's persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. “Most of these persecuted Uyghurs live in Xinjiang, a mostly desert region that produces about 20 percent of the world’s cotton –- in large part through what is believed to be Uyghur forced labor,” Frazier said.

Frazier had to navigate the challenge of writing about a serious topic while also providing enough humor and hope to keep readers engaged. The novel also has very strong family and cultural themes.

“I mostly focus on the dialogue being lighthearted,” Frazier said, “There’s a lot of banter and I make some accessible, interesting characters. The characters and dialogue bring light and humor to the story.”

The reception for the novel, via the prominent Macmillan Publishers house, exceeded Frazier’s dreams. “Off the Books” appeared on multiple summer must-read lists, including The San Francisco Chronicle’s summer books "perfect to pore over" and Bustle’s summer "40 Most Anticipated Books," which noted the book as "an illuminating update of the classic American road trip story, equal parts uplifting and heartbreaking, and always mindful of the journey’s underlying danger." 

Among other raves from authors and publications, the book earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, which called it “A vital, enthralling debut in which devastating social commentary is delivered with a wink.”

Works in progress

Frazier recently wrapped up second novel, “Eat Bitter, Anastasia,” moving toward a February 2027 publication date. That novel is “an Oakland ghost story about a third-generation Oakland woman who inherits a Victorian home from her favorite uncle,” Frazier said. “She has to decide whether to stay and take it on or to take off and follow her dreams and nurture her own art.”

Meanwhile, Frazier is working on her third novel, which is on the topic of the global medical tourism trade from a journalist’s point of view, inspired by her research for “Off the Books.”

As she continues work on subsequent novels, Frazier sees ways that she has grown in the time since “Off the Books,” even as it earned widespread praise. She is happy to provide an example for her own students, who might get the high of their poetry published and then look back in a year to see how far they have come, and can continue to go.

Saying she is very impressed with student writing and persistence, Frazier can now offer the insights of a successful ORI-selected author in a very accessible way.

“I bring all my rejection letters to class,” Frazier said, noting that failing comes from trying as “the only sure statistic is that 100 percent of the books that people don’t write won’t get published.”

For more information, visit the ORI website.