Skip to main content

Measuring Up

Image
By

Measuring Up
By Lily LaMotte
Illustrated by Ann Xu
New York, NY: Harper Alley, 2020. Graphic novel.

Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle with her parents and she is trying to adjust to life in her new school and new country. Though she quickly makes a couple of best friends, kids at school still treat her like she's weird and make fun of the Taiwanese food she brings for lunch. Her parents aren't a huge help, they don't understand that kids do things differently in America and won't let her have a sleepover because that would never happen in Taiwan. More than anything, though, she misses her grandmother back in Taiwan. One day, Cici - a budding chef - sees an advertisement for a kids' cooking contest with a cash prize. Cici decides to enter the contest in the hopes of using the prize money to bring A-ma to Seattle for her 70th birthday. Her plan seems easy enough, until she meets her assigned competition partner - the intimidating Miranda who works in her family's fancy restaurant and insists that they won't win the competition by making Taiwanese food.

This middle grade graphic novel is a welcome addition to a genre full of stories about kids figuring out who they are and where they fit in. Cici is a delightful narrator and kids will identify with her feeling pulled between her love of cooking and the pressure from her parents to focus on school. The illustrations, especially of food, are visually pleasing and satisfyingly colorful. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Display: Dino-mite Reads

By
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Enigma Girls

By
  The Enigma Girls By Candace Fleming New York: Scholastic Focus, 2024. Informational. 371 pages. If you have an interest in little known aspects of history or in World War II in particular, this book is for you. The Enigma Girls tells the story of 10 young women who worked at Station X at Bletchley Park in England helping to break ciphers during World War II. Each of the girls grew up in different circumstances, and thus, each worked at in a different part of Station X cracking codes. The reader learns about how Station X worked through the stories of each of the girls. Whether it was transcribing the Morse code messages that the Germans were sending to their armies or decoding, translating, or paraphrasing messages, each girl had a part to play. The stories of the girls are intermixed with plenty of photographs as well as special chapters about how to decode various types of ciphers. Learning about Station X through the eyes of the girls that worked there helps the reader gain a huma
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Hidden Dragon

By
The Hidden Dragon By Melissa Marr New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. Fiction. 161 pages. Three children, Otter, London, and Sophia, live in a fantasy world with dragons. Otter (short for Ottilie) is the daughter of a ship captain, and she loves the sea and its dragons. London is a stowaway boy, searching for a new life full of adventure. Sophia lives in a thief house with other children, all dedicated to helping each other and trying to make the kingdom better. As trouble begins to brew both on land and at sea, these three heroes realize that maybe it's up to the kids to make things right. Readers experience the book from multiple perspectives, and with a bit of mystery and adventure, this is an amazing fantasy read. With the inspiring message that children truly can make a difference, readers will enjoy how each character fights for what's right, even when it's inconvenient. The ending is resolved a little quickly, but this is a great read for all "hatchlings."
Post a Comment
Read more