THE NOT-SO-UNIFORM LIFE OF HOLLY-MEI

A girl learns to balance fairness with friendship.

The novel begins in Toronto as 12-year-old Holly-Mei Jones attempts to mollify teammates who are shunning her for having cost them the win in their field hockey game as well as a class pizza party due to her insistence on doing the right thing and following the rules no matter the consequences. Her problems increase when Mom announces a promotion necessitating their family’s temporary relocation to Hong Kong in two weeks. The plot incorporates expected signals of privilege: a luxurious expatriate life in the former British colony and interactions with Hong Kong’s cosmopolitan elites. Gemma Tsien—queen bee and daughter of the PTA chair at the exclusive private school where Holly-Mei and younger sister Millie enroll—poses the primary challenge to Holly-Mei’s social acceptance. However, a near-fatal accident during Gemma’s birthday party and a group project hiccup become bonding experiences that make both girls sympathetic to each other’s pressures to live up to parental expectations, establish guanxi, or connections, and not do anything to lose face. With a Taiwanese mother and White English father, Holly-Mei’s feeling of connection to Chinese culture grows even as she observes socio-economic polarities in Hong Kong. Through cultivating new friendships, she also succeeds in mending an old one. The aftermatter includes a glossary of Chinese language terms and two recipes. Sweet illustrations enhance the text.

Life upheaval offers a tween lessons on socialization in this story of personal growth.