I'm very pleasantly surprised by how much I adored this! Freddie vs. the Family Curse is a tender, precious story about a young Filipino-American boy summoning his courage and finally taking ownership of his destiny.

Final impressions:
• When I read this particular line - "Look with your eyes, not with your mouth, Freddie." - early on in the book, I knew that it would deliver the Filipino parent-child dynamic I craved. (And I was right!)
• In his quest to break a generational curse, Freddie also reconnects with his family's past and culture in the process - which I thoroughly enjoyed.
• The bad luck situations that Freddie often found himself in (such as running out of glue for an important project) evoked similar feelings of frustration and anxiety in me, which allowed me to easily sympathize and relate to his character. After all, don't we all get a little irritated on off-days?
• The way that Filipino superstition was integrated into this story was so great, and I particularly liked that Freddie's lola is shown to be both superstitious and religious (as many of them are).
• Some darker parts of Filipino history are touched on (such as war and Japanese colonization in the Philippines), but in a way that doesn't interrupt the overall fun, lighthearted, and hopeful atmosphere of the book.

What a refreshing take on a story centering a clumsy kid, where our hero's clumsiness is mostly due to a family curse passed down generations. It almost feels a little subversive. And the way that this story unfolds will have so many readers easily rooting for Freddie. I know I certainly did!

Final verdict? Highly recommended!