Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Debut creator Chang recounts a time of personal and familial tumult in this introspective graphic novel memoir. For the past five years, 12-year-old Taiwanese American aspiring artist Chang has been keeping a huge secret from her friends: her bàba moved back to Taiwan for work and the family--including her mother and older sisters Em and Jess--has seen him infrequently since. Though the tween wants to enter a district-wide art competition, the theme of "What Family Means to Me" leaves her questioning what to draw. Upon their grandmother's death, the siblings and Mom must travel to Taipei, where the youth reunites with her father. She also learns more about her mother's resilience throughout the years, as well as the real reason surrounding Bàba's departure. Chang cleverly denotes Taiwanese dialogue using dashes to represent aspects of conversation she doesn't understand and smartly utilizes journal entries to display her youthful interiority. The sunny color palette and emotive facial expressions inject lightheartedness into the tween's grappling with her parents' secrets and her own shifting perspective. Readers will root for her growth as an artist and budding adolescent as she embraces the sometimes messy parts of life. Ages 8--12. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Feb.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--8--Cindy's dad has been absent from their family home for years yet her friends and teachers have no idea, and her mom spends tons of energy making sure nobody finds out. When Cindy's grandma dies back in Taiwan, Cindy, her older sisters, and her mom must travel there to observe her funeral rites with their estranged father. While in Taiwan, Cindy soon discovers the cause of her father's absence and the depth of the secret that her mother and sisters have been keeping from her. Ultimately, she voices to the pain and hurt that have been building within herself. This main plot is framed by a school assignment given by Cindy's teacher--to enter an art competition with the prompt of depicting "What Family Means to Me." The earnest 12-year-old is conflicted about whether to present a literal perfect picture of a family that doesn't exist or express her anger with her family's betrayal. This is a difficult but vital story of painfully protecting and ultimately shattering the facade of a perfect family. With emotional support, hard conversations, necessary conflict, and cautious reconciliation, Cindy is able to create a new vision of her family, literally, through the medium of her artwork. Cindy's story is that of the author herself, which makes the book all the more powerful and intense. VERDICT Honest and heartfelt, Chang has crafted a striking, clearly articulated family drama.--Emilia Packard
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A San Francisco sixth grader grapples with the burden of keeping a heavy family secret. In this debut graphic novel inspired by the author's own life, Taiwanese American Cindy lives with Ma and older sisters Jess, a Yale-bound senior, and Em, a student at Stanford. Bàba lived with them, too--until he moved back to Taiwan four years ago, ostensibly for work. Their father's absence is a confusing situation the girls have been instructed to keep secret. When the teacher of avid, talented artist Cindy encourages her to enter a contest with the theme "What Family Means to Me," she's torn between revealing the uncomfortable, murky truth and wanting to depict a "perfect" family; she harbors secret hopes that winning with an idealized portrait might encourage Bàba to come home. During a sudden family trip to Taiwan to attend their paternal grandmother's funeral, the sisters learn why Bàba really left. Will Cindy be able to express her feelings and portray her family's complicated truth? The appealing cartoon-style illustrations have soft, saturated tones, emphasizing the characters' facial expressions and making their complex, shifting, and overlapping emotions ring true. The panels and perspectives are creatively varied, and interspersed pages from Cindy's journal highlight her inner thoughts. Chang makes the emotional strain that emerges from secrecy clear, and the book refreshingly and bracingly addresses the topic of non-nuclear Asian American family configurations. A moving portrayal of a family processing fraught, messy changes.(Graphic fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
