YA Pick: American Panda

American Panda
by Gloria Chao
Simon Pulse
2018
304 pages
ISBN: 9781481499101

Tender, heartfelt, and oh, so needed, American Panda delivers a sweet story about learning who you are and finding your voice even if it means disappointing your family or worse, breaking apart your bonds.

Seventeen year old Mei Lu is a freshman at MIT. She is younger than everyone she meets and she doesn't volunteer her age. Her parents have pushed her into studying medicine, but Mei is a germ-a-phobe who carries hand sanitizer everywhere. Her Chinese born parents are traditional and  have sacrificed and worked hard to give Mei and disowned older brother Xing an easier lives in a country of opportunity.

As children, Mei and Xing are expected to be dutiful and respectful. This includes following their parents' life plan for each of them. They must marry a good candidate from a Chinese family. Xing must become a doctor or other profession that can make tons of money. As a girl, Mei's spouse must be able to provide for her. This means Mei must marry a doctor or in the very least, a professor. Not as much money, but the prestige factor is enough. Mei's mother makes matchmaking her first priority (remember Mei is only seventeen). Xing makes the mistake of falling in love with a woman who may have trouble conceiving a child. It is of the utmost importance to Mei's father that his own son has a son to carry on the Lu name. Her parents disown Xing and kick him out of the house.

Living in the dorms at MIT, Mei doesn't have the privacy she had hoped for. Her parents know her school schedule by heart. If she doesn't return their phone calls or texts, they want to know where she is and who she is with. Mei's mother is the epitome of a tiger mom. Mei's roommate is Nicolette, and they start off barely tolerating each other. Mei misses her brother who is now a doctor. She longs to speak with him about her own fears: her fear of germs, her hatred of biology, her fear of speaking up to her father. Mei begins to meet Xing in secret.

When Mei finds herself having feelings for two very different, NON-Chinese boys, she keeps that secret as well. Another secret is that Mei has been teaching traditional Chinese dance classes and she loves it. Dancing is her passion, not medicine. Too many secrets are spilling over until Mei finally tells the truth.

American Panda is the story of many first generation Americans whose parents have immigrated from other countries. It is not an Asian story (although it is). It is an immigrant story that so many teens will find themselves in. Whatever country their parents came from, it is likely their parents are traditional in their thinking and customs. The American born children grow up in America and hear about their parents' struggles, but it is not the children's story.

Highly, highly recommended, American Panda is a MUST read. Grades 8 and up. Some profanity.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Beach Read Pick: The Lake House

The Lake House

by Marci Nault

Gallery Books

2013

 400 pages

Dive into this poignant novel rife with sweet romance, unlikely friendships, jealousy, tragedy, and hope. The lake community is small and secluded. Families living here have vacationed here since their childhood and now their children are all grown and have children of their own. Close-knit and guarded, the community does not welcome visitors, not even one of their own.

Victoria Rose grew up in a house on the lake. When the small, sleepy community wasn't exciting enough for her, she set her sights on Hollywood, becoming a famous actress, even winning an Oscar. Now, fifty years later, she's returning to the lake house from her youth. Her childhood friends are cold and downright mean, except for Molly--they remember when Victoria fled without saying good-bye and they haven't forgiven her for abandoning them and acting superior to them and their ways. High school sweetheart James still lives on the lake, and Victoria surprises herself by looking over at his house wondering if he's home and still awake.

Heather Bregman is a famous travel writer  being marketed by her fiance Charlie. Charlie is pushy and arrogant, riding Heather's coattails and using her to make money. Heather sees a small lake house for sale and flees Boston. It doesn't hurt that hot guy Tom visits his grandfather who lives in the lake house next door. Heather's dream is to fix up the small Victorian cottage and live and write in peace.

This is not the dream of the tight-knit elderly community. They don't want an outsider in their midst, and they don't want Victoria around either. Sarah and Agatha aren't worried. Victoria has never stayed at the lake. They figure she'll run away soon if history repeats itself.

What the community never counted on is that Victoria and Molly accept and welcome Heather. Although they are old enough to be her grandmother, Victoria and Molly help Heather and try to make inroads with the others.

This story is one of forgiveness and redemption, a story of deep and lasting, life-long love, a story with heart and compassion. If you read one book this summer, make sure it's The Lake House.

Highly, highly recommended for book clubs and summer reading. Some mature content, some "loose" conversations.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Book Club Pick: The Art Forger

The Art Forger
by B.A. Sharpiro
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2012
355 pages

view the book trailer and read more

information about the theft

Deeply satisfying and rich in detail, The Art Forger is that rare novel that not only captivates the reader but takes the reader on a journey into another world: the world of prestigious museums, unscrupulous art dealers, unsavory, international thieves and corrupt gangs who use stolen art to fund their drug and gun purchases, and talented, yet unknown and undiscovered artists, who are driven by their desire to create works of beauty and those who will do anything to get that first big break.

It is in this world that Claire is struggling to gain her foothold. Three years earlier, she was in a relationship with celebrated artist Isaac Cullion and the art insiders remember her as the woman who brought shame and suicide to his name. Claire helped Isaac paint one of his most celebrated works--actually she painted  all of it--but Isaac takes all the credit, fame and wealth from her work. The more famous he becomes, the angrier Claire gets. She tells the museum that she painted 4D and they don't believe her claims. Shamed, Claire is unable to get any gallery to take her seriously and show or buy her work, so she ends up working for a company that sells high end copies of famous masters' works; she is an expert on Degas.

After three years in obscurity, Claire is approached by gallery owner Aiden Markel who contacts Claire and offers her a deal. He asks that she paint a copy of an important painting and she will be richly rewarded. Claire thinks of all the things that the money could buy and after pondering the deal for a few days, she agrees to help Markel.

Everyone who knows anything about art knows about the infamous break-in and robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museam in Boston in 1990. Thieves broke in and ripped thirteen pieces of famous art from their frames including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas. It is the largest unsolved art theft in history and the FBI is still on the case. None of the stolen art has ever surfaced.

Claire is excited to see the giant shipping crate that is delivered to her loft and opens it with Markel's help. In it is what Markel says is the stolen original Degas After the Bath. Markel wants Claire to paint a copy of the original which will be sold to a foreign investor and the stolen one will once again grace the walls of the Gardner Museum. Markel isn't doing anything illegal--he's returning one of the most celebrated pieces of art to its rightful owner--the museum and thousands of people worldwide will now be able to view it. Claire is speechless and excited. She has a real Degas in her loft! She gets to live with a masterpiece!

She begins to painstakingly prepare the canvas, taking an old, lesser work of art down to the canvas and mixes all her own paints. She knows Degas' techniques inside and out and she knows how to "bake" a painting to make the paint look as old as the original. When she is finished, no one should be able to tell that Degas did not paint it himself.

Markel reminds Claire that it is not a crime to make a copy of a painting. She is merely doing what she does at her real job--creating a copy of a masterpiece. Claire is paid again when the painting is finished and experts agree that it is the real masterpiece and it's sold to the buyer. Claire and Markel get entangled in a romantic relationship, and just when everything seems so right...it goes so wrong. Twists and turns will keep the reader enthralled.

Masterful storytelling and a compelling plot make The Art Forger a must read for any history or art buff and anyone who loves a great novel. This is a great book club book, are you listening, Oprah? I am constantly impressed by the talent of the writers chosen to be published by Algonquin. Algonquin is one publishing house that finds the true keepers in the world of literature. Do yourself a favor--run, don't walk, to the nearest book store and get a copy of The Art Forger--it's that good!

Highly, highly recommended grade 9-up. Some mature content. Sex, language.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

High School Pick

The Other Side of Dark
by Sarah Smith
Antheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster), 2010
309 pages

Book Giveaway: See below

Compelling, mysterious, and just outright in-your-face fierce, The Other Side of Dark is a novel that should not be missed. Told in chapters by the two main characters, Katie tells her story of becoming an orphan--an orphan who just happens to see ghosts. What's more: she draws them in her sketch book and knows their stories. Law tells his story: son of an African American Harvard professor and a white historian mother, his story is the story of a house divided by a father who expects--no, demands--reparations from the white man for all the evils of slavery and a mother who cares more about saving old homes than repairing her marriage.

Law is from a cultured family with ties to the upper crust of Boston. Katie, on the other hand, is not from the upper crust. She has never known the big houses with butler's pantries and Ivy League parents.

Katie and Law meet and are attracted to each other. They both are broken--Katie grieves her mother's death and doesn't want to talk to ghosts anymore. Law doesn't feel that he is good enough or black enough to be his father's son. He'll never live up to his father's plans for him. What Law really wants is to study architecture--not politics or race relations--he doesn't want to fight his father's fight. Law refers to his father as "the Voice" and says "he's always on." His father is always the orator, the teacher, the professor. Law has a passive-aggressive relationship with his father that simmers just under the surface.

That's only part of the book. When Katie starts seeing George, a ghost with Down's Syndrome, she finds a mystery in a burned out mansion--Pinebank Mansion which is set to be destroyed by the city of Boston--and She sees a slave ship, a lost fortune, a broken family, and the slaves' stories begin to haunt her. The teens launch a website to preserve the mansion but neither of them realize the secrets preserved at Pinebank.

Truly a book that will make a difference. Highly, highly recommended for high school students. Mature readers in grade 8 might also enjoy the book, but do realize there are language issues.

Language, racially charged language--used by Law when speaking of his father and his father's causes.



FTC Required Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for my review.

Book Giveaway: I have 5 copies of this novel for giveaway. Post a comment and include your email. Deadline is December 15, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. MST

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