It’s Boba Time for
Pearl Li
By Nicole Chen
Publisher: Quill Tree Books (February 28, 2023)
Publisher’s
Blurb:
Pearl Li
is ready to spend the summer before seventh grade hanging out with her two best
friends, crocheting the cutest amigurumi dolls, and visiting her favorite tea
shop, Boba Time. Its quirky owner, Auntie Cha, is the only adult Pearl can
confide in about her art—if only her tech-obsessed family would understand her
love of crafts!
After
Pearl learns of Boba Time’s financial troubles, she decides to sell her
amigurumi to raise money for the shop. But as she navigates the ups and downs
of running a business, Pearl realizes that monetizing her passion is more
complicated than she could’ve ever imagined. Can Pearl save Boba Time before
it’s too late?
Featuring fun backmatter—including a delicious boba tea
recipe—this is a heartfelt story about advocating for your passions and
uncovering big truths about friendship, family, and entrepreneurship along the
way.
My Thoughts:
Pearl reminds me a lot of me. One person criticizes
something I do, and before you know it, I figure everyone else will feel the
same way. We love our safe spaces, and treasure the people who “get” us—sometimes
too much.
Pearl’s safe place is Boba Time, and her safe person is
Auntie Cha. Pearl doesn’t fit into her home of entrepreneur parents and a big
sister who has coded an app that’s already on the market. She’d rather crochet
cute amigurumi figures. But when she learns that Boba Time is in danger of
closing, she, too, becomes an entrepreneur in an effort to purchase a new
fridge.
Pearl has great friends who support her, but when they
advise her to stop hiding what she’s doing from her parents, they argue. The rift
between them is real, as is Pearl’s struggle to forge ahead on her own. She
finds a surprising ally in her sister.
Of course, her parents don’t stay in the dark for long.
The resolution comes when Pearl’s mother realizes just how alike they actually
are, despite different interests. Pearl does reconcile with her friends, and
they come up with a great solution—for themselves, and for Auntie Cha. They
even make a new friend along the way—one of the “mean girls” who first
criticized Pearl’s work
I really like the way the relationships are portrayed.
The parents, sister, friends, and supportive adult all are well-developed as
characters with their own problems and hurts to deal with. The dialogue feels
realistic as well.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Pearl deceives her parents. Friends argue.
Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like to see children working to solve problems—their
own and those of others around them. Those who like multicultural stories.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an
ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Momo Arashima
Steals the Sword of the Wind
Momo Arashima Book
1
By Misa Sugiura
Publisher: Labyrinth Road (February 28, 2023)
Publisher’s
Blurb:
All Momo wants for her twelfth birthday is an
ordinary life—like everyone else's. At home, she has to take care of her
absentminded widowed mother. At school, kids ridicule her for mixing up
reality with the magical stories her mother used to tell her.
But then Momo’s mother falls gravely ill, and a death hag straight out of those
childhood stories attacks Momo at the mall, where she’s rescued by a talking
fox . . . and “ordinary” goes out the window. It turns out that Momo's mother
is a banished Shinto goddess who used to protect a long-forgotten passageway to
Yomi—a.k.a. the land of the dead. That passageway is now under attack, and
countless evil spirits threaten to escape and wreak havoc across the earth.
Joined by Niko the fox and Danny—her former best friend turned popular jerk,
whom she never planned to speak to again, much less save the world with—Momo
must embrace her (definitely not
"ordinary") identity as half human, half goddess to unlock her divine
powers, save her mother’s life, and force the demons back to Yomi.
My Thoughts:
This was an engaging adventure and bodes well
for future installments in the series.
Momo is tired of being the caregiver in her
family. On her 12th birthday, she has been the one to look after her
mother ever since her father’s disappearance, rather than the other way around.
Mom just doesn’t seem to engage with the world or understand how it works.
Of course, as Momo finds out, that could just
be because Mom is an exiled goddess! Furthermore, in order to save Momo’s life,
her mother promised Momo to the goddess of the underworld, to begin on her 12th
birthday.
And to complicate things further, the gate to
the underworld is weakening. It is up to Momo, helped by fox spirit Nico, to
restore the gate and save the world. On the way, she meets many mythological
figures, including her grandfather.
Joining Momo and Nico on the quest is Danny,
Japanese by ethnicity, but adopted by Caucasian parents. They had been good
friends once, but when Danny became more concerned with being cool, Momo was cast
aside. Danny remembers the stories Momo’s mother had told them, and is a great
supportive sidekick as they travel to multiple fantasy worlds. He’s not without
his snark, and Momo is unsure of whether they will truly be friends ever again,
but he’s handy to have around.
I enjoyed the dialogue and characters here, as
well as the peek into Japanese folklore and fairytales. There’s some snappy dialogue
and great description.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Stories of non-Christian gods and goddesses.
Perilous situations. Loss of a parent. Bullying.
Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like learning about the folklore of
other cultures. Fans of adventure and stories about friendship.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an
ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Finally Seen
By Kelly Yang
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (February 28, 2023)
Publisher’s
Blurb:
My sister
got to grow up with my parents. Me? I grew up with postcards from my parents.
When ten-year-old Lina Gao steps off the plane in Los Angeles, it’s her first time
in America and the first time
seeing her parents and her little sister in five years! She’s been waiting for
this moment every day while she lived with her grandmother in Beijing, getting
teased by kids at school who called her “left behind girl.” Finally, her parents are ready for her to
join their fabulous life in America! Except, it’s not exactly like in the
postcards:
1. School’s a lot harder than she thought. When she mispronounces some words in
English on the first day, she decides she simply won’t talk. Ever again.
2. Her chatty little sister has no problem
with English. And seems to do everything better than Lina, including knowing
exactly the way to her parents’ hearts.
3. They live in an apartment, not a house like in Mom’s letters, and they owe
a lot of back rent from the
pandemic. And Mom’s plan to pay it back sounds more like a hobby than a
moneymaker.
As she reckons with her hurt, Lina tries to keep a lid on her feelings, both at
home and at school. When her teacher starts facing challenges for her latest
book selection, a book that deeply resonates with Lina, it will take all of
Lina’s courage and resilience to get over her fear in order to choose a future
where she’s finally seen.
My Thoughts:
Once again, Kelly Yang brings us a story of
what it’s like to try to navigate a new country. I don’t know how many parents
find themselves in a situation where they must leave one or all of their
children behind in order to forge a new life in the United States.
In this case, once Lina is able to join her
parents, she is excited to start living the beautiful life they’ve sent her
photos of—only to find that that life isn’t real. They are struggling to get
by. Her father lost his graduate school job after standing up for a coworker,
and now does fieldwork for an organic farmer, who has promised to help Lina’s
parents get their green cards.
Lina’s little sister, of course, fits right in
at school and speaks English well She’s all about her Tiktok dances. But
although Lina has studied English back in China, it is nothing like actually
having to go to school in English in the U.S.
Furthermore, she’s worried about her
grandmother, who has moved into an assisted living center and doesn’t seem to
be settling in well.
Enter a wonderfully sympathetic teacher to help
Lina grow her English skills and a school librarian who helps Lina find the
perfect graphic novel. The two of them even encourage Lina to create her own
graphic novel about her experiences—including how she is bullied in her new
school
And when Lina shares her favorite graphic
novel, about an immigrant girl whose experiences are similar to Lina’s own,
there is consternation in the classroom when a parent objects to the book and
wants it removed. It is here that Lina finds her voice and is able to stand up,
speak up, and be seen.
I really, really loved this book, and look
forward to more by Kelly Yang. She made my heart hurt for Lina, and I sympathized
with the struggles that her parents faced in trying to keep their family together.
These are heavy subjects, but Yang handles them deftly and in a way that is
appropriate to her target age group. It is such a pleasure watching Lina make
friends and overcome her language barriers as she finds the way to make herself
heard.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Family separation, bully, deception,
censorship, immigration issues.
Who Might Like This Book:
Anyone who likes stories of families overcoming
difficulties. Those interested in the immigrant experience. Those who like
reading about social issues through the lens of a child’s life.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an
ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
A Bit of Earth
By Karuna Riazi
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (March 14, 2023)
Publisher’s Blurb:
Growing
up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as
long as she can remember—first because of her parents’ constant travel, and
then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult child, and it
never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her
parents offer to “give her a better life” in the United States, Maria is
shipped to a host family across the world.
When
Maria arrives on Long Island, things are not quite what she was expecting. Mr.
Clayborne has left on an extended business trip, Mrs. Clayborne seems
emotionally fraught, and inexplicable things keep happening in the Claybornes’
sprawling house. And then Maria finds a locked gate to an off-limits garden.
Since she’s never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate
and discovers something she never thought she’d find: a place where she feels
at home.
With
a prickly main character, a sullen boy, two friendly allies, and a locked
garden, A
Bit of Earth has
everything a reader could want from a retelling of The Secret Garden. Karuna Riazi’s evocative prose is interspersed
with poetic verses, illuminating each character’s search for a place they can
truly call home. This tender yet incisive reimagining of a classic work will
captivate fans of the original—and widen the appeal for a modern audience.
My
Thoughts:
The
Secret Garden
may be part of my DNA, I’ve read it so many times. I’m also a huge fan of the
Broadway musical of about 30 years ago. I entered this book with high hopes,
and was not disappointed.
Riazi
follows the plot of the original without being too imitative, updating it to a
new time, place, and culture. Maria is the contrary Mary who is softened by her
time in the garden. Riazi gives her a rich internal dialogue, as she knows she
will be passed to another home and refuses to do anything that would keep her
connected to the home she is currently in. But a determined neighbor girl
starts to break down Maria’s carefully erected walls. The main characters of
the original are all represented in some shape or form—even the robin, who is represented
by a small green lizard in this book.
There
is some added conflict with Lyndsay, Colin’s stepmother, and how she finally finds
a backbone in dealing with Colin’s father, who is still obviously grieving his
first wife. I was a little confused as to Lyndsay’s cultural background—several
hints were dropped, but it wasn’t really clear.
Placing
Maria in Bangladeshi/Pakistani culture worked well, with her homesickness for
her homeland, despite being passed around from unwilling relative to unwilling
relative. The reason for her coming to New York is a bit of a stretch, but not
too bad. And the resolution, like that of the original, is satisfying.
Possible
Objectionable Material:
Loss
of parents. Children in conflict with adults. Children being sneaky, but not in
a dangerous or destructive way.
Who
Might Like This Book:
If
you liked The Secret Garden, I see no reason that you wouldn’t like
this!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an
ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
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