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lostinanovelidea's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
kindredbooks's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I received a copy of this book from Scholastic Canada in exchange for an honest review.
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is a story about a young Chinese Australian teenage girl who struggles to live out a “normal” teenage life. Between her mother’s erratic moods and behaviour, and her busy-at-work father, Anna is busy trying to take care of her two younger siblings while maintaining a semblance of normality to the outside world.
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is a story about many things - culture, family, love, mental health. It is a story about a Chinese immigrant family and their sense of normalcy as it is challenged when Anna's mom's mental health begins to worsen. While mental health still has a negative stigma (though I'm hopeful for the changes), mental health is still not quite as accepted in the Asian community. Add to that all the elements of Chinese culture, and you cannot help but empathize with Anna as she struggles to remain as a good Chinese daughter, following the elements of filial piety, while also having to come to terms with the fact that she may not be able to “fix” the problems with her mother. That perhaps in order to help her mother, she may need to stop being the perfect and good Chinese daughter. There were many parts of the story that resonated with me - particularly the Hong Kong culture and sayings/expressions that Anna’s parents and other Chinese adults in the story liked to say. Expressions I’ve heard of all my life. The utmost importance and priority of education above all else. Wanting to fit in while always seen as other through microaggressions. To say that there is a lot to reflect on in this story would be an understatement. I enjoyed reading it and I’m happy to see such important issues like mental health being talked about with a Chinese protagonist. I think that it will resonate with many readers who understand the complexity of mental health on top of being part of a minority culture.
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is a story about a young Chinese Australian teenage girl who struggles to live out a “normal” teenage life. Between her mother’s erratic moods and behaviour, and her busy-at-work father, Anna is busy trying to take care of her two younger siblings while maintaining a semblance of normality to the outside world.
The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is a story about many things - culture, family, love, mental health. It is a story about a Chinese immigrant family and their sense of normalcy as it is challenged when Anna's mom's mental health begins to worsen. While mental health still has a negative stigma (though I'm hopeful for the changes), mental health is still not quite as accepted in the Asian community. Add to that all the elements of Chinese culture, and you cannot help but empathize with Anna as she struggles to remain as a good Chinese daughter, following the elements of filial piety, while also having to come to terms with the fact that she may not be able to “fix” the problems with her mother. That perhaps in order to help her mother, she may need to stop being the perfect and good Chinese daughter. There were many parts of the story that resonated with me - particularly the Hong Kong culture and sayings/expressions that Anna’s parents and other Chinese adults in the story liked to say. Expressions I’ve heard of all my life. The utmost importance and priority of education above all else. Wanting to fit in while always seen as other through microaggressions. To say that there is a lot to reflect on in this story would be an understatement. I enjoyed reading it and I’m happy to see such important issues like mental health being talked about with a Chinese protagonist. I think that it will resonate with many readers who understand the complexity of mental health on top of being part of a minority culture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Minor: Suicide
lily_k8y's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Although some of the Cantonese references were likely lost on me I was left laughing and teary with some understanding of the Asian culture references. It was both an easy and heavy read, but it kept me turning the pages and wanting to see how the family came to talk to each other. Also always nice to read a book based in the city you live in 😉
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
witmol's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This may well be the only Australian book that deals with the intersection of mental illness, being from the Asian diaspora and coming-of-age. In this YA novel, we follow high-schooler Anna as she tries to juggle being a student and a parent to her younger brother and sister while her dad buries himself in work and her mother takes to bed for weeks with an undiagnosed mental illness.
I'm so used to reading about high-achieving Asian girl characters that I was pleasantly surprised to learn Anna was merely mediocre at school and instead had a flair for helping her father's restaurant business.
I won't say too much about the main plot, which follows Anna getting to become herself while different parts of her life are falling apart and coming together – the romance and how it interweaves with the main plot supports the book's themes well too – but I will say that there are a lot of little nods that make this book an insightful read for someone from a diaspora readership, or enlightening for someone outside of one.
My favourites:
I'm so used to reading about high-achieving Asian girl characters that I was pleasantly surprised to learn Anna was merely mediocre at school and instead had a flair for helping her father's restaurant business.
I won't say too much about the main plot, which follows Anna getting to become herself while different parts of her life are falling apart and coming together – the romance and how it interweaves with the main plot supports the book's themes well too – but I will say that there are a lot of little nods that make this book an insightful read for someone from a diaspora readership, or enlightening for someone outside of one.
My favourites:
- The tension in the idea that you have to 'be better' than your migrant parents because they came to a new country for you; that it is not enough to be the same even if that's what you're good at and what you want to do.
- The intraracial hierarchy where sometimes your biggest bullies are the people from your own racial heritage.
- The conflict between cultural understandings of mental health.
I also liked that the mental health challenges faced in the book were not suddenly fixed with magical medicine but are shown as part of a process of everyday management.
And a big shoutout to my 'hood of Ashfield, which is certainly the home of the best dumplings in Sydney.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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