Review by Booklist Review
David Tung, like many young Chinese Americans, must balance the expectations of his parents with the absurdities of being a modern American teen. When he's not working at his family's restaurant, he's scheming ways to climb his school's GPA rankings. No time for dances, hobbies, and definitely not girls. On the weekends, however, David attends Chinese school in the heart of New York's Chinatown. Here he escapes his sheltered existence and gets a taste of what other Chinese youth--those not lucky enough to live in posh suburbs--must contend with. And here, where he least expects it, he might even find love. David's story starts out fairly conventional but becomes much more impactful as it shifts to the goings on at his Chinese school. Lin explores the different lives of David's friend group, highlighting the pressure one character has to join a Chinese street gang and the precarious housing situation another faces as a recent immigrant to the U.S. David's self-deprecating humor wraps up these observations into a hilarious package. A fun and insightful read.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7--10--In wealthy Shark Beach, NJ, sophomore David faces parental pressure to become valedictorian of his majority Chinese American high school and attend an Ivy League college. The narrowest slivers of his GPA and competition with other students rule his days, and at night he works long hours at his family's restaurant. David lives for ungraded Saturday Chinese school and his shady slacker friends there. When a popular Shark Beach girl invites David to a dance, surprise causes him to accept before remembering his parents forbid dating. While struggling for a solution, David begins to appreciate a Chinese school girl, Betty, who suffers no fools and has a Chinese American father and white mother. Can David possibly make everyone happy? This slice-of-life story spends the first chapters building David's world. Acting as a tour guide for readers, David describes his background, schools, home, restaurant, teachers, classmates, relatives, and friends. Lin demonstrates David's adeptness at code-switching and shows him seeing his world both as an insider, being Chinese American, and as an outsider, since his economic situation matches neither that of his wealthier Shark Beach or poorer Chinese school classmates. Many readers may see themselves in aspects of David's highly pressured life, and will cheer him on in navigating his complex situation. VERDICT This richly detailed, leisurely-paced story of a Chinese American boy struggling with parental demands around academia and girls will appeal most to readers who prefer world-building to action. Recommend to readers who enjoyed David Yoon's Frankly In Love.--Rebecca Moore, The Overlake School, Redmond, WA
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