Propelled by a feisty and fabulous heroine, Lee's sophomore novel is powerful, evocative, and thought-provoking.
Leading up to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, ambitious Mercy Wong talks her way out of Chinatown and into an elite boarding school.
Fifteen-year-old Mercy wants more than what's expected of her as the daughter of a Chinatown launderer and his fortuneteller wife in turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco. Ambitious due to her "bossy cheeks"—her high cheekbones symbolizing an assertive, independent nature—she boldly bribes her way to a scholarship at the tony St. Clare's School for Girls, where she hopes the prestigious education will land her not a prosperous proposal (she's happily matched to handsome and supportive Tom, the herbalist's son), but a life out of what the non-Chinese derisively call Pigtail Alley. Mostly, she hopes to save her sickly little brother, Jack, from a life of menial labor. At St. Clare's, Mercy must pose as a Chinese heiress. She makes an eclectic group of new friends, such as Italian-American Francesca, who Mercy realizes is at the bottom of the white pecking order, and tries to avoid the hawk-eyed headmistress. When the earthquake hits, plucky Mercy's quick-witted leadership rallies survivors in the tragedy's aftermath. Full of beautiful turns of phrase, lessons in Chinese customs and superstitions, and a refreshing protagonist representing intersectional diversity, this is a must-read for followers of historical fiction.
Propelled by a feisty and fabulous heroine, Lee's sophomore novel is powerful, evocative, and thought-provoking. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17541-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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