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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

In this follow-up to In the Beautiful Country, Anna (Taiwanese name Ai Shi) is finally adjusting to life in the United States, where she is finishing sixth grade. Although her parents’ restaurant does okay, there’s no extra income to spend on fun things like summer camp. When the family realizes that Ba missed the deadline for filing paperwork to extend their stay in the United States, they fear they’ll be deported. Anna’s new summer plans? She’ll be working in the restaurant while her mom takes an under-the-table job in San Diego to pay an immigration lawyer. As the summer goes on, Anna begins to appreciate both of her parents as individuals with whom she has distinct relationships. She and Ma “try to outdo each other’s worry, / as if worrying is just another way to say I love you.” Anna and Ba connect over a love of literature, though they “inhabit two separate worlds … / His world is in Chinese. / Mine is in English / and there’s a divide.” Frustrated with the nonresolution proposed to their immigration status, Anna contemplates a school speech prompt, “What America Means to Me.” Written in contemplative free verse, this story offers an honest exploration of one girl’s sense of self in a new home that’s not always welcoming. (Ages 9-12)

CCBC Choices 2024 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2024. Used with permission.

From Kirkus

July 1, 2023
In 1980s California, a girl navigates her way through her family's pursuit of the American dream. Ai Shi continues to adjust to living in the small town of Duarte after her family emigrated from Taiwan, as relayed in 2022's In the Beautiful Country. Despite help from best friend Tiffany, she cannot help but feel she falls short of being "a real American"--standing out among white kids at school and also among American-born kids at her Chinese church. Ai Shi is ambivalent about the approaching summer break, assuming she'll be helping out her parents at their diner as usual since they can't afford camp. At least her teacher notices her way with words, encouraging Ai Shi to write a speech on the topic of "What America Means to Me" for junior high speech club in the fall. But then her family discovers they have overstayed their visa and need to get a lawyer they can't afford. Ai Shi's mother gets a summer job in San Diego, and Ai Shi will officially work at the diner for $5 a day. Amid the challenges, she savors unexpected pockets of joy, grows in understanding her parents' wishes for her ("You have so many choices, Ai Shi. / You get to decide"), and finds her own American dream. Kuo's verse is artfully balanced in tone, never sugarcoating the struggles of the immigration experience but acknowledging the good times as well. An unabashedly heartfelt search for belonging. (Verse historical fiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2023
In this sequel in verse to In the Beautiful Country (rev. 7/22), we follow Ai Shi Zhang -- American name, Anna -- and her family in the suburbs of Los Angeles as they struggle to carve out a place in the American Dream. They buy an American-made Buick. They sign a lease on their store. Then the Zhangs discover that they missed their window to renew their immigration visas. A summer free of plans is quickly altered: Ai Shi's mom must go to San Diego to work and save enough money to pay for an immigration lawyer, while Ai Shi must spend every day working at the family's shop. In order to join Speech Club at junior high next year she has to write a speech; the prompt, "What America Means to Me," serves as the theme of the novel as Ai Shi grapples with that very question. Despite their difficult circumstances, Ai Shi and her parents navigate their world with relentless optimism, perseverance, and an earnest belief in their dreams. Gabi Kim Huesca

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From Booklist

April 1, 2023
Grades 4-7 A sequel to In the Beautiful Country (2022), which told of Anna and her mother leaving Taiwan and joining her father in America, this story opens 18 months later, during Anna's sixth-grade year. She has adjusted well, and the family business, a fast-food place, is supporting them. But later that year, she learns that her family's visa has expired and that, no matter how hard they work, they have no path to citizenship. To someone who increasingly sees herself as an American, this comes as a devastating revelation, but by the story's end, Anna has confided in her best friend, worked through her initial emotional turmoil, and found a way to move forward. Based on Kuo's experiences within a family of undocumented immigrants who were granted amnesty and, eventually, American citizenship, Anna's first-person, free-verse narrative unfolds with simplicity, precision, and insights into what drives the people around her as well as herself. Written in short chapters, this inviting novel in verse offers a rewarding reading experience for young people.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From AudioFile Magazine

The sequel to the author's novel IN THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY begins 18 months after Taiwanese-born Anna immigrates to the U.S. Catherine Ho's narration of the story, told in first-person free verse, features an even pace that reflects the balance this sixth-grade student is attempting to achieve. Ho recounts Anna's emotional ups and downs: At first, she believes she can achieve success in her new country; then she realizes with shock that her family has no path to citizenship. Ho captures Anna's attempts to come to terms with her family's financial struggles and her own limitations. By the story's end, Ho expresses hints of optimism as Anna begins to believe she has a gift for words and can make a difference. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine