Reviews

Fake Chinese Sounds by Jing Jing Tsong

jackelz's review

Part 1 — Did You Eat Yet?

This is a very important question, and I love how it’s basically a show of endearment. 

Měi Yīng’s grandmother, Năi Nai, is visiting from Taiwan. Although Měi Yīng’s Mandarin isn’t the best and Năi Nai doesn’t speak English, they find other ways to connect, like cooking guōtiē together and doing tai chi in the mornings. It was really sweet to see them bond. 

Part 2 — Fake Chinese Sounds

Měi Yīng is excited to start fifth grade, but she starts getting bullied by the new kid Sid. Her best friend, Kirra, says to ignore him, but Měi Yīng doesn’t think that will put a stop to his racist jokes. This starts to affect her attention in class, her friendship, as well as soccer, where she was once the Spark of the team. 

Part 3 — A Little Bit of Heart

I love that her school does International Week, where each student brings in food or shares something with the class about their family’s heritage. Měi Yīng, with her mother’s help and Năi Nai’s recipe, makes diǎn xin (dim sum) for the class. I loved how this was a special way to get to know everyone, and embrace everyone’s differences too. We also get to understand Sid a little more, and see his side to the decisions he made. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The story touches on very important and relevant themes, and I found myself rooting for the main character. The key message is how to stand up for yourself, while also showing an adolescent learning to be confortable in her own skin. 

The art style wasn’t my favorite, but I think it fit the story really well. I really appreciated how each section had its own color scheme. Part 1 was yellow, part 2 was red, then part 3 was orange. I’d like to think that part 3 is where the two other parts of Měi Yīng’s story — her family and Taiwanese heritage, and her soccer and school life — merged, hence the creation of a new color. The random watercolor pages, with the butterflies, were my favorite because of how vibrant and colorful they were. 

knockoutbooks's review

5.0

Thank you, NetGalley, for this advanced review copy!

I really enjoyed Mei Ying’s story and the integration of Chinese into the dialog. It felt like I was learning while reading.

Mei Ying struggles a bit when she starts middle school and she’s seemingly the only Chinese kid. At first she is bullied and embarrassed by her family and culture, but grows to love what makes her “different.”

I think this is definitely an idealistic story, with the bully becoming Mei Ying’s friend at the end, but it is so important that kids read stories that reflect what they might be going through and give them hope for a better experience. I wish I had stories like these when I was younger!