(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

(2) YA Seventeen-year-old Taiwanese American girl Ali (Āh-lěe) Chu has grown up in a predominantly white Midwestern town; she has learned to survive school (where she is known as Allie) by blending in and being "as dry as white toast." Yet as new people enter her life--a childhood friend she doesn't remember, a new Taiwanese American classmate, and a great-uncle she never knew existed--things begin to change. After uncovering family secrets and confronting painful truths, Ali eventually exits survival mode, ditching "Allie" and beginning to live life as her true self, "100 percent Ali." Ali's first-person narration employs colloquial, authentic teen language. The absence of a glossary for the Mandarin vocabulary in the book requires readers to experience, like Ali, what it is like to grow up in a family speaking a different language in the home. Also noteworthy is Chao's inclusion of a retelling of the famous Chinese "Butterfly Lovers" legend; the retelling is parsed out between chapters, providing valuable insight into Ali's culture.

Reviewer: Weileen Wang | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(3) YA Despite her fear of germs and her indifference to biology, seventeen-year-old MIT freshman Mei Lu is on the path to becoming a doctor, per her strict Taiwanese parents' wishes. But her first few months away inspire big changes: unbeknownst to her parents, Mei reconnects with her disowned older brother and indulges in her passion for dance. An endearing and at times laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello