American Panda

I should be getting ready for bed right now. My down comforter is whispering my name.  It will just have to wait a little longer so I can finish my hot chocolate (with extra whipped cream).

Grab your calendars folks because you are going to want to circle, highlight and star February 6.  That's the day to go out for stinky tofu with a side of American Panda by Gloria Chao.  Maybe put in for the personal day now.  If not, don't say I didn't warn you--I did not accomplish anything on this snow day until I finished this book.  I hated that I had to go out and shovel.  I considered bribing one of my kids to come out with me, not to shovel, but to read the book aloud while I labored.

17 year old Mei is a freshman at MIT. She is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants who can't shake their traditions.  She's going to be a doctor, married to Harvard educated Eugene. No where in her parents' grand plan is there something that says, "Mei, choose what you want to be. Be who you are." And yet, somehow she manages to do just that.

Only through her love of dance, the realization that a germaphobe who doesn't care for biology shouldn't be a doctor, older brother Xing and Darren, her adorable Californian Japanese suitor, does Mei break out of the mold her parents sculpted for her at birth. But it's certainly not easy.

I laughed.
There's a dinner scene at Chow Chow with Mei's aunt and grandmother that had me laughing out loud until I gasped and held my heart.
That time Mama was in Mei's dorm room and screamed so loud when she found a "candy bar wrapper."
The jabs at Dartmouth. Oh my.  I immediately had to share that with my 40 something Dartmouth alum friend who's response was, "Ouch."

I cried.
Darren is so kind. Period.  Love always makes me weepy. Weddings make me cry until...
Mama tries.  Please be happy, Mama, I pleaded.

I held my breath.
The family. The traditions. Breaking free. How was it all going to play out?

Like a panda this book IS black-and-white. There is no question that it is a one-sitting read with a side of hot chocolate and a whipped cream mustache.

As with most of my YA books, I have my friend Alicia Abdul, to thank for recommending this one. She texted me when she finished and said she wasn't going to begin a new book that night because she wanted American Panda to be the last thing she read in 2017.  If that isn't testament to a good book, I'm not sure what is.

Have you put in your paperwork for that personal day yet?

ps-Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to meet Mei before anyone else.