Budhos, Marina. Ask Me No Questions. 2006.
This book received a starred review in Booklist and has received favorable reviews just about everywhere else. Despite that, I found I had a hard time getting into this book. Nadira and her sister Aisha are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. After 9/11 they got caught up in a situation where the government was trying to roung up alll potential enemies. They got caught as they tried to escape to Canada. Their father was thrown into prison and left there for questioning. Nadhira and her sister are left to try to help get their father out of prison and get permission to stay in the country despite their illegal status. I found the ended really implausable. I think if the ending was more realistic I would have enjoyed the book a lot better.
I think teens may enjoy the book, particularly those that are interested in the issue of the Patriot Act or illegal immigration.
Showing posts with label immigrants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigrants. Show all posts
Friday, March 14, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
American Born Chinese ****1/2
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. 2006.
I am a little late to the party as far as this book is concerned. It won all sorts of awards and accolades and I am just now getting to it. In my defense, I am not really into graphic novels, so I put it off for that reason.
Anyway, the book starts out with appears to be disconnected stories. Then, as the book comes to an end, the different story lines come togehter and it all makes sense. The story primarily revolves around Jin Wang, a new student in school. He was born in America, but is of Chinese decent. He eventually befriends a new Taiwanese kid who is, as he calls it, fresh off the boat. They stay friends all through school until there is a fight that splits them up. Meanwhile, we hear the story of the Monkey King. We also have a story line with a white boy that is followed around by his embarassing Chinese relative who is a total stereotype. It's a little hard to explain the book, honestly.
Fans of graphic novels would enjoy it. Anyone looking to read something different should check this one out. It's definitely different and interesting.
I am a little late to the party as far as this book is concerned. It won all sorts of awards and accolades and I am just now getting to it. In my defense, I am not really into graphic novels, so I put it off for that reason.
Anyway, the book starts out with appears to be disconnected stories. Then, as the book comes to an end, the different story lines come togehter and it all makes sense. The story primarily revolves around Jin Wang, a new student in school. He was born in America, but is of Chinese decent. He eventually befriends a new Taiwanese kid who is, as he calls it, fresh off the boat. They stay friends all through school until there is a fight that splits them up. Meanwhile, we hear the story of the Monkey King. We also have a story line with a white boy that is followed around by his embarassing Chinese relative who is a total stereotype. It's a little hard to explain the book, honestly.
Fans of graphic novels would enjoy it. Anyone looking to read something different should check this one out. It's definitely different and interesting.
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