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Summary
Summary
Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months -- and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Sarcastic, attention-seeking, and prone to whining, Lucy Wu has a big personality and plenty of opinions. She is convinced that her sixth-grade year will be the best yet: she's looking forward to having her own bedroom when her older sister leaves for college, and to the upcoming basketball season. Instead, it is one disappointment after another. Her parents invite her late grandmother's long-lost sister, Yi Po, from Shanghai to visit for a few months and share Lucy's room, and instead of basketball practice, Lucy may be forced to attend Chinese school ("The Chinese part of my life just doesn't make sense sometimes," Lucy complains). Additionally, she is dealing with a secret crush and avoiding a bully. First-time author Shang effortlessly interweaves the multiple threads of her story, as Lucy grows tremendously (and rewardingly) while learning about China's turbulent history and the value of sympathy and strength. Bolstered by frequent use of Chinese language and proverbs, this is a realistic and amusing portrait of family dynamics, heritage, and the challenge of feeling like an outsider-even in one's own family. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Ruined; that's what Lucy thinks her plans are for making sixth grade the best year ever when Great-aunt Yi Po visits from China. Now Lucy must share her room and go to Chinese School. In this engaging, realistic story about bridging cultural divides, Lucy's concerns are those of a typical American kid who learns to appreciate her family's heritage. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Lucy planned on having the best sixth-grade year ever. Her perfect older sister is going to college, so Lucy, about to turn 12, will finally have her own room to decorate with the help of her best friend and fellow basketball teammate, Madison. Instead, she gets Yi Po, her beloved late grandmother's long-lost sister from China, who is coming to visit for half the school year and will be sharing Lucy's room. Lucy doesn't even speak Chinese, something her sister constantly belittles her about: You're a banana, a Twinkie, white on the inside. In protest, Lucy builds a wall of furniture that separates her side of the room from Yi Po's and vows she won't like her great aunt. Shang's solid debut wonderfully captures the seemingly unbearable unfairness of being a tween balanced between two cultures. Lucy's struggles and frustrations are realistic, and her experiences take her from stubborn resistance to pride in her Chinese heritage. Readers will find her transformation thought-provoking, funny, and incredibly heartwarming.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Lucy knows that sixth grade is going to be the best year ever: she finally gets her own room now that her older sister is off to college, and she and her friend Madison are ready to rule the basketball courts. But Lucy's parents put a glitch in those plans when her father returns from a business trip to China with Lucy's great-aunt, who will visit until Christmas. Lucy again has a roommate, and resents this elderly lady who does not speak English and cooks only Chinese food for a family used to pizza and burgers. To make matters worse, her parents insist that she attend Chinese school on Saturday mornings, which means forgoing basketball practice. She is busy with her suburban American life and doesn't feel the need to converse in Chinese or to dwell on Chinese traditions. Slowly, though, she comes to appreciate all that Yi Po has lived through and the quiet ways that her great-aunt shows her love for the family. When Lucy is bullied by a popular girl, she thinks about what her brother told her about Yi Po's life during China's Cultural Revolution and determines that she will act with similar courage and conviction. Lucy is an engaging character, and Shang skillfully weaves in Chinese history and legend as she brings the relationships between Lucy and her family and friends to life. Fans of Grace Lin's Year of the Dog (2006) and Year of the Rat (2008, both Little, Brown) will enjoy meeting this feisty protagonist as she learns to dismantle some walls she has built around herself.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Lucy Wu may only be 4 feet tall, but she has big (and brilliantly on-the-money kidlike) dreams: to play professional basketball for the WNBA and then create a design shop aimed at sports-loving gals. When the story opens, sixth grade is about to start, and Lucy is on top of the world. She comes down with a bang when she learns that Yi Po, her grandmother's long-lost sister, is coming from China for a long visit and will be sharing her room. Worse, Lucy is stuck attending Chinese school and must compete to be captain of the basketball team with a girl who doesn't believe in fair play. Readers may initially want to tell Lucy to stop whining, but as the character evolves, she becomes sympathetic and worth rooting for. There's little in the way of plot twists that experienced readers won't see coming, but the cultural depiction of the Chinese-American family, Shang's use of traditional tales and Yi Po's heart-wrenching story add dimensionality and heft, and the novel's final scenes are genuinely touching.(Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.