Deftly weaving together historical anecdotes and simple line illustrations, Lin once again touches the heart of growing up...
Pacy and her family travel to Taiwan for one month to celebrate her grandmother’s 60th birthday, giving this Chinese-American girl another lens through which she can examine her identity.
When Pacy’s dad calls Taiwan an island of treasure, or bao dao, which sounds similar to the Chinese word for dumplings, she wonders—could Taiwan’s treasure be food? In a companion novel to The Year of the Dog (2006) and The Year of the Rat (2008), gentle Pacy is back, brimming with questions of identity and self-discovery. At home in New York, Pacy is one of the few Asians in her class. She tries hard to fit in. In Taiwan, she looks similar to everyone else, but she doesn’t speak Chinese or Taiwanese. So she doesn’t fit in there either. Pacy’s mom signs her up for a painting class, and Pacy is excited. She’s a good artist; surely she’ll make some friends. But painting with a bamboo brush on rice paper is difficult! The one talent that made her feel safe is suddenly gone; Pacy doesn’t know who she is anymore or where she belongs. Luckily, there is a lot of loving family to surround her, and a lot of incredible food to eat (especially dumplings). This third outing is as warmhearted as the first two.
Deftly weaving together historical anecdotes and simple line illustrations, Lin once again touches the heart of growing up in a multicultural family. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-12590-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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Unusual and poignant—full of the depth and contradictions of life.
A relationship between a young owl and a young girl helps them both confront their fears.
Reenie is taken away from her grandmother’s house by social services after a fight between her grandmother and her grandmother’s boyfriend endangers her. Reenie has been through this before—when her mother’s depression is bad enough, she has to be hospitalized, leaving Reenie at the mercy of social services. This time she is delivered to Beatrice, a great-aunt she has never met. Beatrice turns out to be a master falconer, and Reenie, despite her overall mistrust of adults, is intrigued. When a young, undernourished owl ends up in a hawk trap by mistake, Reenie convinces Beatrice to bring the owl, whom she names Rufus, back to the house. The story is narrated in alternating first-person chapters from the points of view of Rufus and Reenie, with both protagonists having distinctive, plausible voices. Even before he is caught in the trap, Rufus suffers from a debilitating lack of confidence, being second-hatched and therefore smaller and weaker, which he overcompensates for by (often amusing) deliberations and conjectures. Reenie’s distrust of emotional closeness is deftly played with well-reasoned plot developments. Set in Vermont, the story is fleshed out by thought-provoking forays into the ethics of hunting and the powerlessness of children in determining their home lives. Reenie is in the sixth grade and reads as White.
Unusual and poignant—full of the depth and contradictions of life. (author's note, bird facts, glossary) (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-28353-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Full of laughs and excitement.
Ben gets into all kinds of antics trying to check things off his bucket list.
Eight-year-old Ben Yokoyama is “a big fan of wisdom.” So when he opens a fortune cookie that advises, “Live each day as if it were your last,” Ben takes it seriously. Fixated on the idea that today could be the last day of his life, Ben starts making a list: Goal No. 1 is to eat a piece of cake, which he immediately accomplishes by eating the very special cake his dad stashed in the freezer. Realizing his mistake, Ben must bake a replacement, plus do all the other things on his list, like perfect a scooter trick and jump over a neighbor’s lovingly maintained hedge. As his parents, best friend, and others get involved, Ben decides to steal an apple from an eccentric lady’s tree, makes a proper apology, consumes a bag of marshmallows, and more. This fast-paced book is filled with hilarious happenings as Ben gets himself in—and out of—trouble. Along the way, he realizes that sometimes taking risks or trying things that seem scary can lead to making new friendships and discovering fun activities. Joyfully silly illustrations add to the hilarity and action. Like the well-placed speech bubbles, the illustrations and text intersect to create a visually captivating story. Ben presents as biracial, with a Japanese father and White-appearing mother.
Full of laughs and excitement. (fortune cookie facts) (Humor. 8-12)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30275-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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