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A review by skylarkblue1
Three Keys by Kelly Yang
5.0
Content Warnings: Racism, Political racism, Deportation threat, Missing loved one
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Make no mistake, this book is about California Proposition 187 and the effects that had on the immigrants of America. It does not mince words, it does not make things light despite it being told through a child’s eyes. It is explicit about the waves that hit further than just “illegal immigrants” and Latine’s overall.
Continuing from book 1, Mia and her friends continue fighting for their future and their present. Attempting to navigate a new school year, major political bigotry rising, strengthening and gaining new friendships and learning how to run a motel (and keep it running) all come crashing down on them at once. The road is bumpy, filled with surprises and concern. But Mia is strong (unfortunately) and stubborn (in a great way). And in a sad way, this book is pretty good at showing why some kids are forced to grow up much faster than their more privileged peers.
Growing up in the UK, and being *just* too young to have lived through the 90s, I wasn’t fully aware of prop 187 and Pete Wilson’s reign of terror. Reading the author's notes and going through the sources, realising that the book was only slightly fictional, was just heartbreaking - especially for a piece of news towards the end of the book. The parallels to modern politics, not even just American ones, are striking.
As a note about the fictional parts, the characters, I loved them all. The character developments from book 1, the introduction of further backstories and the resolution to that new knowledge I felt flowed great and felt realistic. All 3 kids progressing their skills was really fun to read as well!
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Make no mistake, this book is about California Proposition 187 and the effects that had on the immigrants of America. It does not mince words, it does not make things light despite it being told through a child’s eyes. It is explicit about the waves that hit further than just “illegal immigrants” and Latine’s overall.
Continuing from book 1, Mia and her friends continue fighting for their future and their present. Attempting to navigate a new school year, major political bigotry rising, strengthening and gaining new friendships and learning how to run a motel (and keep it running) all come crashing down on them at once. The road is bumpy, filled with surprises and concern. But Mia is strong (unfortunately) and stubborn (in a great way). And in a sad way, this book is pretty good at showing why some kids are forced to grow up much faster than their more privileged peers.
Growing up in the UK, and being *just* too young to have lived through the 90s, I wasn’t fully aware of prop 187 and Pete Wilson’s reign of terror. Reading the author's notes and going through the sources, realising that the book was only slightly fictional, was just heartbreaking - especially for a piece of news towards the end of the book. The parallels to modern politics, not even just American ones, are striking.
As a note about the fictional parts, the characters, I loved them all. The character developments from book 1, the introduction of further backstories and the resolution to that new knowledge I felt flowed great and felt realistic. All 3 kids progressing their skills was really fun to read as well!