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(2)
YA
Illustrated by
Joanna Cacao.
Color by Amanda Lafrenais. Soontornvat shares an intimate glimpse into her youth in this coming-of-age graphic memoir. As one of the only Asian American students in her small-town Texas middle school, she endures the typical experiences of children of immigrants in a white, homogenous town: mispronunciation of a "foreign" name; teasing and disgust around "smelly" packed lunches; the reduction of one's identity to "rice girl." Fortunately, Christina has a best friend in fellow outsider Megan, whose father is from Iran. Christina and Megan both want desperately to be chosen for the school's cheerleading squad, and Soontornvat immerses readers in their months of intense practice, shown in the dynamic cartoony illustrations. Both girls ace the tryout, but neither makes it; as a heartbroken Christina muses, maybe everyone saw them as just "too different." By pushing herself to try new activities such as Impromptu Speaking (and with support from family, friends, and the "uncles" at her parents' Thai restaurant), she begins to grow more confident, deriving strength from her community. Here, she shares her story: a "story that needed to be told" for a "young person who needed to read it."
Reviewer: Gabi K. Huesca
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2022
(3)
K-3
Pebble Plus: Great Asian Americans series.
Using short, simple sentences and engaging photos, this early-reader biography series introduces famous Asian Americans, filling a gap in children's biographies. Key moments in each subject's professional life are covered chronologically and accompanied by a cumulative timeline. Ample white space around the texts and large pictures make for attractive and supportive layouts for new readers. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Pebble Plus: Great Asian Americans titles: Tammy Duckworth and Yo-Yo Ma.
(3)
YA
After Maya gets her family's Thai restaurant into hot water with the health inspector, she starts to do other students' homework for cash to pay the fines. Unable to generate the money fast enough, Maya teams up with rich, popular Camden King to run an elaborate multi-school cheating ring. Though the ending's no surprise, Maya's spirited narration will keep readers engaged.
32 pp.
| Heinemann
| May, 2004
|
LibraryISBN 1-4034-5025-0$24.22
(4)
K-3
We Are America series.
Each book in this series begins with a look at one immigrant then goes into a general discussion of his or her country of origin and its customs and culture. Illustrated with black-and-white and color photos, the text contains solid information, though pronunciations of non-English words would have been helpful. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these We Are America titles: Dominican Americans, Pakistani Americans, Thai Americans, Greek Americans, Japanese Americans, and Swedish Americans.