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OLDER FICTION
Chao, Gloria

When You Wish Upon a Lantern

352 pp. | Viking | February, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9780593464359 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593464366 $10.99
(4) YA In this sweet treat for tweens and teens looking to indulge in some romantic reading, Chicago high school students Liya Huang and Kai Jiang are childhood best friends whose parents own a Chinatown general store and bakery, respectively. What keeps these two would-be love birds apart is a misunderstanding at a bubble tea shop and the grudge Lia’s father has against Kai’s father for dumping garbage into their shared alleyway. Chao tries to complicate this breezy summer will-they-won’t-they love story with more serious subplots. Liya still mourns her dead grandmother; Kai struggles with his gambling-addicted father and bullying older brother; and the pair attempts to save the Huang’s business from eviction by organizing a lantern festival inspired by the Chinese Double Seven holiday (Qixi is similar to Valentine’s Day). The novel runs long at more than three-hundred pages and there are some minor quibbles (the teens’ wish-granting/matchmaking scheme is a bit twee and mooncakes are usually just made and eaten for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival). Nevertheless, readers searching for a starry-eyed tale will enjoy this trifle about second chances and growing up.
Reviewer: Michelle Lee

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