Waka is a Stanford graduate with a B.A. in International Relations and a Master’s in Secondary Education. She has authored the following award-winning children’s books through Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Children’s Books:

Perfect (illustrated by Yuko Jones) is her debut picture book.
Rick Kotani’s 400 Million Dollar Summer, is scheduled to publish on Feb. 18, 2025.
The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura (2023) is a contemporary re-imagining of the Japanese folktale, “The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku.”
Dream, Annie, Dream (2022) is her first work of historical fiction.
While I Was Away (2021) is her debut novel.