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A review by colossal
Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword (Book 1) by Henry Lien
4.0
Kung Fu and ice skating come together in the art of wu liu at the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword. Chen Peasprout is a champion of wu liu from her home country of Shin, sent as a cultural exchange to the city of Pearl (a rough analogue of Taiwan to Shin's China). Along with her brother Cricket, they are desperate to prove their place at the academy, but struggle to do so while the Academy itself seems to be under attack, and them being blamed.
This is great. Peasprout is incredibly driven and competitive, but she's also a 14-year-old girl who makes plenty of mistakes. She's also in a school that has teachers that are similar caricatures of indifference and authority as the Hogwarts teachers from Harry Potter.
There are some fantastic set pieces around the wu liu challenges involving Peasprout and her friends and rivals. The relationships she develops with twins Doi and Hisashi are fascinating and should be interesting in the next book.
I will say this is darker in places than I would have expected for a middle grade or young young-adult book.
This is great. Peasprout is incredibly driven and competitive, but she's also a 14-year-old girl who makes plenty of mistakes. She's also in a school that has teachers that are similar caricatures of indifference and authority as the Hogwarts teachers from Harry Potter.
There are some fantastic set pieces around the wu liu challenges involving Peasprout and her friends and rivals. The relationships she develops with twins Doi and Hisashi are fascinating and should be interesting in the next book.
I will say this is darker in places than I would have expected for a middle grade or young young-adult book.