Lily LaMotte

Rising eighth grader Claire is excited to return to cultural heritage camp as a counselor-in-training, but younger sister Michelle is far from thrilled when their parents announce she is going to camp, too - she had plans to cement her friendship with popular girl Jess, concluding with her end-of-summer party. Michelle is resistant to camp at first, though she sees Claire differently in an environment where she thrives and is...popular? Both Claire and Michelle make friends with Izzy, a camper who has just moved to the U.S. from Taiwan, and who brings a new perspective to them both. Michelle, who loves singing, tries out a song in Taiwanese, but struggles to get the pronunciation right; meanwhile, she frets over her relationship with Jess over text messages, and when she sends Jess a picture of Claire in traditional Taiwanese dress, Jess's older sister Kat spreads it around, making fun of Claire and leading to a huge fight between the sisters. Ultimately, however, they make up, and Michelle comes to like camp; she realizes at Jess' party that "Claire's right. These aren't my peeps." The following summer, the sisters and their parents enjoy a trip to Taiwan, visiting all the places Izzy told them about.

See also: Summer at Squee by Andrea Wang

Quotes

"Some things are different from how they look." (Claire, 89)… (mehr)

First sentence: Claire and I had many daring adventures with our dolls.

Premise/plot: Michelle (our narrator) and Claire (her older sister) are at odds in Unhappy Camper. Michelle wants to blend in--fit in, be liked, be popular--with her friend group and peers. Claire wants to be true to herself and express her most true self--which in this case means embracing her Taiwanese culture a thousand percent. Claire has gone many years to a Taiwanese-American summer camp. Michelle has never once wanted to go. This year her parents have decided she HAS to go. They hope these two sisters will learn to get along better and become greater friends. Michelle, meanwhile, spends a good deal of time worrying about her friends back home. Her friends seem to pity her for having to go to this "weird" "awful" camp. [That's the impression I got.] What will Michelle learn about herself? her sister? her friends?

My thoughts: Graphic novels are not my go-to choice at the library. But I always try to read a few per year. This graphic novel is a coming of age novel that deals with relationships--the relationship between two sisters, the relationship(s) with friends. Michelle is building towards an "aha" moment where she realizes that her friends may not be true friends that truly care about her.… (mehr)

When Cici's parents declare they are moving to Seattle, Cici is devasted to be leaving behind her grandmother in Taiwan. The only thing that gives her hope is that her grandmother might visit soon -- perhaps even for her 70th birthday -- but her grandmother insists the flight is too costly. But when Cici stumbles upon a local cooking competition for kids with a $1,000 cash prize, she is convinced she can easily win the flight money with the culinary skills she learned from her grandmother. However, she soon sees that Asian cuisine isn't preferred by the competition's American judges. Will Cici be able to assimilate in her new home, make new friends, keep her grades high enough for her parents to be happy, and maybe, just maybe, earn the money needed to allow her grandmother to visit?

This was a really sweet and excellently executed book for upper elementary and middle grade readers (and even some lower elementary advanced readers). Cici is a good kid who tries to please her family but also wants to follow her own path. Her attempts at friendship are tentative at first and she worries that she will be teased for being un-American, but she and her friends soon learn they are more alike than different but also to appreciate those differences.

The cooking competition is surprisingly tense, even if it feels like you should know the outcome. If you really like cooking shows, I'm sure this is an even more compelling part of the book. It was definitely interesting enough for me, especially with hearing about all the interesting recipes the children come up with around a special ingredient each time. Truly, the only major downside of reading this book is that you will walk away hungry!

A minor quibble is that several bits of text (notably, the ingredients in recipes) are penciled in a cursive-style text, which may be something younger readers don't know well enough to decipher. All in all, however, this was definitely a fun and interesting book. The short chapters make you say to yourself, 'okay, just one more chapter,' until you are done before you know it. The illustrations fit the tone of the book well and help to tell the story.… (mehr)