Scan barcode
cahillc3's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story of friendship. It is set in the 1950's where Azalea is dropped off in Paris Junction to spend time with her grandmother, that she barely knows. Azalea is an introvert, so being in a new place, among new people is hard for her.
She begins to become friends with Billy Wong, a Chinese-American. This story offers students a look into the history of the south and the struggles people faced when viewed as "different". At its heart, it teaches students that friendship comes in all sizes, shapes, and colors.
I found myself drawn to the characters in this book. From say-it-like-it-is Grandma Clark's lessons on being open-minded and empathetic (and she reminded me a lot of my own grandmother) to Billy's lonely voice which provided a glimpse into how people can feel when discriminated against. Even the bully Willis pulled at my heartstrings because I could see so many of my students in him.
She begins to become friends with Billy Wong, a Chinese-American. This story offers students a look into the history of the south and the struggles people faced when viewed as "different". At its heart, it teaches students that friendship comes in all sizes, shapes, and colors.
I found myself drawn to the characters in this book. From say-it-like-it-is Grandma Clark's lessons on being open-minded and empathetic (and she reminded me a lot of my own grandmother) to Billy's lonely voice which provided a glimpse into how people can feel when discriminated against. Even the bully Willis pulled at my heartstrings because I could see so many of my students in him.
msaplusteacher's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this story by Augusta Scattergood!
Such a unique perspective about life in the South during the 1950's. Loved the prose & poetry chapters told by both the main characters. Although, Azalea's story is the driving force, Billy's poetic chapters were some of my favorites! I ordered five copies for my Civil Rights Book Club! Also, don't skip the author's note - I learned so much about Chinese immigrants from Augusta's research. A must read historical fiction for all middle grade readers. Great for teaching empathy & tolerance! #WeNeedDiverseBooks
Such a unique perspective about life in the South during the 1950's. Loved the prose & poetry chapters told by both the main characters. Although, Azalea's story is the driving force, Billy's poetic chapters were some of my favorites! I ordered five copies for my Civil Rights Book Club! Also, don't skip the author's note - I learned so much about Chinese immigrants from Augusta's research. A must read historical fiction for all middle grade readers. Great for teaching empathy & tolerance! #WeNeedDiverseBooks
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Azalea is sure that it is going to be the worst summer ever when she is sent to stay with a grandmother she has never met in the small town of Paris Junction, Arkansas. She doesn't like talking to people she doesn't know and she already has a friend at home so she doesn't need more. But Grandma Clark hurt her foot and Azalea can't stay home alone, so she is forced to spend the summer of 1952 there. The first thing Azalea learns is that in this small town, everybody knows everyone else's business. The second thing she learns is that people aren't always who you might expect them to be -- not Billy Wong, the grocer's great nephew, not trouble-maker Willis DeLoach, not Grandma Clark, and maybe not even Azalea herself. A great summer story about questioning one's assumptions and believing in one's self. Recommended for grades 4 and up.
jshort's review
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
srl5041's review against another edition
4.0
Boy did I love Billy's voice in this story! While he wasn't the main narrator in this novel, his chapters were my favorite!
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
It's 1952 and Azalea Ann Morgan, 11, isn't too thrilled about being dropped off at her grandmother's house in Paris Junction, Arkansas. Azalea had big plans to hang out with her best friend Barbara Jean at home in Tyler, Texas and to visit the Grand Canyon with the parents. But Grandma Clark has hurt her foot and needs help with her house and garden, and even though Azalea and her grandmother are virtual strangers to each other, Azalea's mother agreed to let her stay for the summer.
Azalea is a shy girl and dreads talking to strangers, and, of course, Paris Junction is full of strangers. No sooner does Azalea arrive, then she notices a boy in one of the trees in her grandmother's enormous garden. Grandma Clark tells her it's Billy Wong, a Chinese American boy who is staying with his great aunt and uncle, longtime Paris Junction residents and owners of the Lucky Seven grocery. But when her grandmother encourages Azalea to make friends with Billy, she hesitates - she's never met a Chinese person before, and can't imagine how they could understand each other if one speaks Chinese and one speaks English.
It turns out that Billy Wong has no trouble with the English language given that his family has lived in Arkansas for generations. Billy is staying in Paris Junction so that he can attend a better school than the school across the river where is parents live. And Billy is one of three kids besides Azalea who come to help out in Grandmother Clark's garden. Besides him, there is the prissy Melinda Bowman and the town bully and troublemaker Willis DeLoach.
Before she knows it, Azalea is speaking more and more to strangers, and becoming friends with Billy Wong, hanging out and riding their bikes around Paris Junction. Which is how they discover Willis DeLoach's secret. Willis, whose mother is in the hospital, is home alone in at trailer in a pecan grove, taking care of his little sister.
And Willis DeLoach hates Billy Wong. He's already in trouble at the Lucky Seven grocery, and continues to steal bubble gum from them whenever he can. Shortly after discovering Willis and his sister at the trailer, the Lucky Seven is vandalized and everyone immediately jumps to the conclusion that it is the work of Willis. Everyone, except Azalea, who actually knows where Willis was the night of the vandalism.
Though the vandalism of the Lucky Seven stands at the center of this novel, there is a lot going on for Azalea. For one thing, her first night at Grandma Clark's she broke what appeared to the an old, maybe valuable plate and is afraid to tell her grandmother. And what happened between her grandmother and her parents that caused the estrangement between them, so that Azalea was never able to get to know her grandmother, or her now deceased grandfather, before. And finally, what is inside the locked shed in Grandmother Clark's garden, the one she forbade Azalea from going into, and yet why is there light coming from it at night, even when her grandmother is home, snoring in her bed?
Making Friends with Billy Wong is my favorite kind of middle grade novel. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. The story is told mainly from Azalea's first person point of view, an outsider to Paris Junction and someone who can record what she sees with more clarity than perhaps its residents. Interspersed are Billy's first person thoughts, written in poetry or in the style of a journalist (he wants to join the school newspaper), in which he writes about his hopes for his new school and his life, and about dealing with the racial prejudice he experiences on a daily basis in this 1952 segregated south.
I've always liked the way Augusta Scattergood handles her characters, regardless of the role they play in one of her novels. She treats them with respect and in return, they reveal themselves calmly, naturally and unselfconsciously, yet they are not without flaws, The same can be said about her southern settings, a setting in which she is very much at home.
And I really loved that Scattergood gave us a grandmother turned out to be different from the usual array of unknown grandmothers. Grandma Clark welcomes Azalea, treats her with nothing but kindness and turns out to be a pretty unique person in her own right. She's fair and open-minded, so why did Azalea's parents want to get away from her as quickly as possible, and refuse to let her get to know her grandchild for so long? The answer may surprise you, it did Azalea.
I can honestly say I enjoyed reading Making Friends with Billy Wong every bit as much as I enjoyed reading Scattergood's previous two historical fiction works - Glory Be and The Way to Stay in Destiny (my reviews). Like them, this is also a wonderfully well-written, very well researched story about family, friendship, bullies, hate, overcoming personal challenges and learning to not jump to conclusions.
Be sure to read Scattergood's Author's Note to learn more about the little known, but large Chinese population in the south in the 1950s and 1960s and what inspired this novel.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was sent to me by the author
This review was originally posted on Randomly Reading
Azalea is a shy girl and dreads talking to strangers, and, of course, Paris Junction is full of strangers. No sooner does Azalea arrive, then she notices a boy in one of the trees in her grandmother's enormous garden. Grandma Clark tells her it's Billy Wong, a Chinese American boy who is staying with his great aunt and uncle, longtime Paris Junction residents and owners of the Lucky Seven grocery. But when her grandmother encourages Azalea to make friends with Billy, she hesitates - she's never met a Chinese person before, and can't imagine how they could understand each other if one speaks Chinese and one speaks English.
It turns out that Billy Wong has no trouble with the English language given that his family has lived in Arkansas for generations. Billy is staying in Paris Junction so that he can attend a better school than the school across the river where is parents live. And Billy is one of three kids besides Azalea who come to help out in Grandmother Clark's garden. Besides him, there is the prissy Melinda Bowman and the town bully and troublemaker Willis DeLoach.
Before she knows it, Azalea is speaking more and more to strangers, and becoming friends with Billy Wong, hanging out and riding their bikes around Paris Junction. Which is how they discover Willis DeLoach's secret. Willis, whose mother is in the hospital, is home alone in at trailer in a pecan grove, taking care of his little sister.
And Willis DeLoach hates Billy Wong. He's already in trouble at the Lucky Seven grocery, and continues to steal bubble gum from them whenever he can. Shortly after discovering Willis and his sister at the trailer, the Lucky Seven is vandalized and everyone immediately jumps to the conclusion that it is the work of Willis. Everyone, except Azalea, who actually knows where Willis was the night of the vandalism.
Though the vandalism of the Lucky Seven stands at the center of this novel, there is a lot going on for Azalea. For one thing, her first night at Grandma Clark's she broke what appeared to the an old, maybe valuable plate and is afraid to tell her grandmother. And what happened between her grandmother and her parents that caused the estrangement between them, so that Azalea was never able to get to know her grandmother, or her now deceased grandfather, before. And finally, what is inside the locked shed in Grandmother Clark's garden, the one she forbade Azalea from going into, and yet why is there light coming from it at night, even when her grandmother is home, snoring in her bed?
Making Friends with Billy Wong is my favorite kind of middle grade novel. I picked it up and couldn't put it down. The story is told mainly from Azalea's first person point of view, an outsider to Paris Junction and someone who can record what she sees with more clarity than perhaps its residents. Interspersed are Billy's first person thoughts, written in poetry or in the style of a journalist (he wants to join the school newspaper), in which he writes about his hopes for his new school and his life, and about dealing with the racial prejudice he experiences on a daily basis in this 1952 segregated south.
I've always liked the way Augusta Scattergood handles her characters, regardless of the role they play in one of her novels. She treats them with respect and in return, they reveal themselves calmly, naturally and unselfconsciously, yet they are not without flaws, The same can be said about her southern settings, a setting in which she is very much at home.
And I really loved that Scattergood gave us a grandmother turned out to be different from the usual array of unknown grandmothers. Grandma Clark welcomes Azalea, treats her with nothing but kindness and turns out to be a pretty unique person in her own right. She's fair and open-minded, so why did Azalea's parents want to get away from her as quickly as possible, and refuse to let her get to know her grandchild for so long? The answer may surprise you, it did Azalea.
I can honestly say I enjoyed reading Making Friends with Billy Wong every bit as much as I enjoyed reading Scattergood's previous two historical fiction works - Glory Be and The Way to Stay in Destiny (my reviews). Like them, this is also a wonderfully well-written, very well researched story about family, friendship, bullies, hate, overcoming personal challenges and learning to not jump to conclusions.
Be sure to read Scattergood's Author's Note to learn more about the little known, but large Chinese population in the south in the 1950s and 1960s and what inspired this novel.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was sent to me by the author
This review was originally posted on Randomly Reading
wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the idea of this story more than the execution. Sometimes the dialogue didn't flow or feel authentic, which distracted me from the action. I think this will appeal to middle grade readers who enjoy a bit of history mixed in with stories of friendship and who don't mind if characters are one dimensional.
cassuallyreading's review against another edition
5.0
This piece of historical fiction opened my eyes to the trials that Chinese-Americans went through. This is a DEFINITE must-read and share. As an educator, I cannot wait to read this with my learners and have in-depth discussions on kindness, diversity, and the impact we have on others.
cweichel's review against another edition
4.0
This is why I have MustRead lists. It's been on my list for the past few years and I finally got to it. It's the story of a girl and her grandmother. It's about making mistakes and reconciliation. It's about friendship. It's a reminder to look deep beneath the surface to understand where others are coming from.
Set in 1953, this historical novel features Azalea as the main protagonist, but Billy Wong's perspective is shown in alternate verse chapters. It's a powerful format that enables readers to learn what it was like to live in an important time in history. The underlying sweetness encourages us to have empathy for those who are different from us.
Set in 1953, this historical novel features Azalea as the main protagonist, but Billy Wong's perspective is shown in alternate verse chapters. It's a powerful format that enables readers to learn what it was like to live in an important time in history. The underlying sweetness encourages us to have empathy for those who are different from us.
shayemiller's review against another edition
4.0
7/23/18
This is the story of Azalea’s eventual friendship with Billy Wong — told from both perspectives. One day, the summer before 6th grade, Azalea’s mother loads her up at her home in Texas and drops her off at her Grandmother Clark’s house in Paris Junction, Arkansas. She will be staying the summer to help her grandmother. Azalea doesn’t even know her grandmother before this visit. And all she knows about Paris Junction is that everyone knows everything about everyone. She slowly becomes friends with a boy named Billy who is Chinese-American. Unfortunately, she also witnesses blatant racism toward Billy. The primary attacker is a boy named Willis. While Azalea wants to hate Willis for his rude behavior, she learns more about his family’s circumstances and realizes that kindness is important when someone is in need of help (even when you don’t think they deserve it). I really liked how Azalea had to build empathy for more than one person during this story as she discovered her own incorrect assumptions. And without spoiling anything big, I can share that in the end, Azlea has to decide if she’s willing to tell the truth about the innocence of another character she doesn’t like, even if it means possibly incriminating herself. This is definitely a historical fiction, sharing many of the attitudes and events of the 1950s. But sadly, some of these behaviors and beliefs still exist, today. I listened to this book on audio and I must say, the narrator’s voice and accent were quite pleasant. The story emphasizes the importance of considering all aspects of a person’s life before making an ultimate judgment. Also important is how it addresses forgiveness and the realization that people can change, for the better, over time.
To see this review on my book review blog, please visit The Miller Memo
7/17/18 -
Very fast read. Review to come soon... :)
This is the story of Azalea’s eventual friendship with Billy Wong — told from both perspectives. One day, the summer before 6th grade, Azalea’s mother loads her up at her home in Texas and drops her off at her Grandmother Clark’s house in Paris Junction, Arkansas. She will be staying the summer to help her grandmother. Azalea doesn’t even know her grandmother before this visit. And all she knows about Paris Junction is that everyone knows everything about everyone. She slowly becomes friends with a boy named Billy who is Chinese-American. Unfortunately, she also witnesses blatant racism toward Billy. The primary attacker is a boy named Willis. While Azalea wants to hate Willis for his rude behavior, she learns more about his family’s circumstances and realizes that kindness is important when someone is in need of help (even when you don’t think they deserve it). I really liked how Azalea had to build empathy for more than one person during this story as she discovered her own incorrect assumptions. And without spoiling anything big, I can share that in the end, Azlea has to decide if she’s willing to tell the truth about the innocence of another character she doesn’t like, even if it means possibly incriminating herself. This is definitely a historical fiction, sharing many of the attitudes and events of the 1950s. But sadly, some of these behaviors and beliefs still exist, today. I listened to this book on audio and I must say, the narrator’s voice and accent were quite pleasant. The story emphasizes the importance of considering all aspects of a person’s life before making an ultimate judgment. Also important is how it addresses forgiveness and the realization that people can change, for the better, over time.
To see this review on my book review blog, please visit The Miller Memo
7/17/18 -
Very fast read. Review to come soon... :)