ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Tsong, Jing Jing

Fake Chinese Sounds

208 pp. | Penguin/Kokila | April, 2024 | Trade ISBN 9780525553427 $23.99 | Paper ISBN 9780525553434 $13.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780525554127 $8.99
(2) 4-6 In this graphic novel, fifth grader Mei Ying and her Taiwanese immigrant mother deal with daily microaggressions. Mom says people don't mean to be offensive, but Mei hates that her mom seems so unbothered by people's ignorance. When new student Sid starts bombarding Mei with racist taunts, she again wonders why no one else seems upset, while others say Mei is oversensitive. During an especially bad confrontation, Mei finds her voice. She calls Sid out for being racist and yells at him to "STOP MAKING FUN OF ME"; shocked into silence, he does. Tsong's cover art aptly captures Mei's experience: fingers plugging her ears, Mei is dwarfed by the title words (in large speech bubbles) and surrounded by illustrations of fake Chinese characters resembling angry, jeering faces. Each of the story's three parts features panels and full pages of expressive black-and-white drawings highlighted with a different color: yellow for the warmth of a summer visit from Nai Nai, who teaches her granddaughter about tai chi and inner strength; red for Mei's anger at being bullied and left alone to deal with Sid; and orange in the final section, for the optimism with which Mei decides to loudly convey her pride in being Taiwanese American. Sid's written apology may also be optimistically imagined; still, Tsong's (If I Were a Tree, rev. 7/21) debut novel is a well-crafted portrayal of a girl asking crucial questions about racism.
Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

RELATED 

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

The Republic of Birds
by Miller, Jessica
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Atlantis
by Mone, Gregory
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

It Doesn't Take a Genius
by Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
by Rivera, Kaela
INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Soul Lanterns
by Kuzki, Shaw
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?