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A review by panda_incognito
Happy New Year, Julie 1974 by Susan McAliley, Robert Hunt, Megan McDonald
1.0
In 2007, I gave up on the Julie series after reading this book, and I can see why. There is almost no plot, and even though the story teaches children about Chinese New Year traditions, it does so in a didactic way. In this book, Ivy and her family are token characters who only exist to educate Julie and the reader about their cultural practices, and the book is shallow and dull.
Also, Tracy's meltdown at a fancy restaurant over Christmas is unrealistic and ridiculous. She is fifteen years old, and far too mature and image-conscious to make a scene like that. The purpose that it plays in the story is to illustrate how challenging it is for divorced families to celebrate holidays together and find a new sense of normal, but it is completely unbelievable, especially since the reader still has no information about why the parents split.
Tracy is extremely angry with her dad, but it is never clear why. She claims that he is the reason that the rest of the family had to move out, but it's impossible for the reader to evaluate this claim or come to their own conclusion about the nature of the relationships, since the author never explains what led to the divorce, or how the separation happened. Is it Mr. Albright's fault? Is Tracy just being dramatic and unfairly blaming him? We'll never know. This entire series revolves around a divorce that goes 100% unexplained, and it's hard to take any of the emotional drama seriously when there is no background or context provided.
Also, Tracy's meltdown at a fancy restaurant over Christmas is unrealistic and ridiculous. She is fifteen years old, and far too mature and image-conscious to make a scene like that. The purpose that it plays in the story is to illustrate how challenging it is for divorced families to celebrate holidays together and find a new sense of normal, but it is completely unbelievable, especially since the reader still has no information about why the parents split.
Tracy is extremely angry with her dad, but it is never clear why. She claims that he is the reason that the rest of the family had to move out, but it's impossible for the reader to evaluate this claim or come to their own conclusion about the nature of the relationships, since the author never explains what led to the divorce, or how the separation happened. Is it Mr. Albright's fault? Is Tracy just being dramatic and unfairly blaming him? We'll never know. This entire series revolves around a divorce that goes 100% unexplained, and it's hard to take any of the emotional drama seriously when there is no background or context provided.