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Measuring Up

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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. 

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