Earnest, funny, and evocative.
Leaving everything behind and starting anew requires courage, perseverance, and patience.
It’s 1993, and Ruth loves her life and friends in Toronto. So when her parents decide to move back to Hong Kong, she can’t help but focus on the negatives. Not only will she leave her school and friends behind, but she has only vague, unpleasant memories of visiting Hong Kong when she was younger, and she understands but barely speaks Cantonese. On top of that, her older brother, who’s a year from graduation, will be staying behind to attend boarding school, and her dad will be traveling extensively for work in China. This is a coming-of-age immigrant memoir with a twist that highlights the complex nature of migration: While many such stories take the characters somewhere new, Ruth and her family are ultimately returning to her parents’ home, albeit one that’s unfamiliar to Ruth. A story-within-a-story retelling of Ruth’s father’s family’s flight during the Sino-Japanese War in the 1940s provides further depth and context. Chan illustrates the stories with her signature humor and wit. The panels, colored in a soothing palette, feature clean lines and vividly express the characters’ range of feelings. Many of Ruth’s reflections on her extended Chinese family will ring true to those with Asian or immigrant families: A family tree that starts with Poh Poh and Gong Gong and ends with “NOT EVEN GONNA TRY” and an unwelcome encounter with a dish of chicken feet will have readers laughing in recognition.
Earnest, funny, and evocative. (language note, author’s note) (Graphic memoir. 8-14)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781250855336
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A retro yet timeless story of family and identity.
Martín brings his successful Mexikid Stories online comic series to print.
Living in California’s Central Coast as a first-generation Mexican American, Pedro (or the “American-style” Peter) struggles to find his place. As an American kid growing up in the 1970s, he loves Star Wars and Happy Days but dislikes the way his five oldest siblings, who were born in Mexico, make him feel less Mexican just because he and the three other younger siblings were born after his parents immigrated to the U.S. to work picking strawberries. A family trip to Jalisco to bring their abuelito back to California to live with them presents Pedro with an opportunity to get in touch with his roots and learn more about the places his family calls home. Told from Pedro’s perspective, the panels read as a stream-of-consciousness travelogue as he regales readers with his adventures from the road. Along the way, Pedro has fresh encounters with Mexican culture and experiences some unexpected side quests. Full of humor, heart, and a decent amount of gross-out moments, Martín’s coming-of-age memoir hits all the right notes. Though the family’s travels took place decades ago, the struggles with establishing identity, especially as a child of immigrants whose identity straddles two cultures, feel as current as ever. The vibrant, action-packed panels offer plentiful details for readers to pore over, from scenes of crowded family chaos to the sights of Mexico.
A retro yet timeless story of family and identity. (family photos, author’s note) (Graphic memoir. 9-14)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9780593462287
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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