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ninetalevixen 's review for:
American Panda
by Gloria Chao
3.5 stars.
I was hooked from the beginning chapter, because while my parents are very supportive and understanding — relative to some of the other Asian immigrant parents I've known, at least — I could definitely relate to Mei's drive and self-pressure to succeed and even uncertainty about what she wants to do with her life. (Though, for the record, I grew up in the SF Bay Area with lots of friends who looked and spoke like me, so although I was aware of being "different" from mainstream-media protagonists I did feel comfortable in my Taiwanese-American identity.)
That said, although Chao absolutely nailed some aspects of our culture in a way that rings wonderfully true, other aspects felt exaggerated and even Westernized. At first I was delighted by the casual dropping of particularly colorful or evocative Chinese phrases, though some instances felt a little awkward (which is possibly hypocritical as someone who herself is prone to thinking/speaking a mix of English and Mandarin, but I'm just generally not a fan of including seemingly-arbitrary "foreign-language" phrases in the dialogue/narration); Part of it might just be that unique lens that second-generation kids (myself included) grow up looking through, but in the end especially it almost felt as though Taiwanese/Chinese culture was being condemned as antiquated and overly patriarchal. And it is, in some ways, but it's also lovely in so many ways, and replacing it with "modern"/American traditions definitely isn't going to fix the problem.
And what really frustrated me is that this book had the potential to explore more facets of that Asian-American identity. There was no shortage of Asian-American characters, each of them in a unique situation (even Mei's brother Xing, who was disowned by their parents) — and I do applaud their inclusion, even if I wish it had been developed further! Obviously this is just one specific narrative (as Chao acknowledges in the author's note) and the ideal would be a varied collection of Asian-American stories that this one can help round out, but unfortunately that's not the case yet.
Still, I enjoyed following along with Mei's journey to figure out her identity and personal values, and Darren is kind of cute ... though the family and friend relationships are really where this book shines, I think.
Recommended by Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts.
I was hooked from the beginning chapter, because while my parents are very supportive and understanding — relative to some of the other Asian immigrant parents I've known, at least — I could definitely relate to Mei's drive and self-pressure to succeed and even uncertainty about what she wants to do with her life. (Though, for the record, I grew up in the SF Bay Area with lots of friends who looked and spoke like me, so although I was aware of being "different" from mainstream-media protagonists I did feel comfortable in my Taiwanese-American identity.)
That said, although Chao absolutely nailed some aspects of our culture in a way that rings wonderfully true, other aspects felt exaggerated and even Westernized. At first I was delighted by the casual dropping of particularly colorful or evocative Chinese phrases, though some instances felt a little awkward (which is possibly hypocritical as someone who herself is prone to thinking/speaking a mix of English and Mandarin, but I'm just generally not a fan of including seemingly-arbitrary "foreign-language" phrases in the dialogue/narration); Part of it might just be that unique lens that second-generation kids (myself included) grow up looking through, but in the end especially it almost felt as though Taiwanese/Chinese culture was being condemned as antiquated and overly patriarchal. And it is, in some ways, but it's also lovely in so many ways, and replacing it with "modern"/American traditions definitely isn't going to fix the problem.
And what really frustrated me is that this book had the potential to explore more facets of that Asian-American identity. There was no shortage of Asian-American characters, each of them in a unique situation (even Mei's brother Xing, who was disowned by their parents) — and I do applaud their inclusion, even if I wish it had been developed further! Obviously this is just one specific narrative (as Chao acknowledges in the author's note) and the ideal would be a varied collection of Asian-American stories that this one can help round out, but unfortunately that's not the case yet.
Still, I enjoyed following along with Mei's journey to figure out her identity and personal values, and Darren is kind of cute ... though the family and friend relationships are really where this book shines, I think.
Recommended by Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts.