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Maizy Chen's Last Chance

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By Lisa Yee
New York: Random House Children's Books, 2022. Fiction.

Eleven-year-old Maizy Chen barely knows her grandparents, her Oma and Opa, who live in Last Chance, Minnesota. She only met them once when she was 8 and they came to Los Angeles to visit Maizy and her mom. Now, Maizy is stuck spending her whole summer in Last Chance, a lazy Midwestern town, as she and her mother help care for her sick Opa and keep the family restaurant afloat. While there, Maizy begins to puzzle over her family history, in particular her great-great-grandfather Lucky Chen who came to America from China before the Chinese Exclusion Act and eventually settled in Last Chance. In the present day, the Golden Palace restaurant is targeted by racist messages and Maizy is determined to find the culprit.

This is a remarkable novel that seamlessly integrates historic and modern narratives while exploring the intergenerational trauma of Chinese American immigrants. Lisa Yee masterfully tells this story in a way that will keep elementary school readers invested in the Chen family and the various threads that are woven into this story. This book faces the harsh realities of anti-Asian racism head-on, but a cast of warm and endearing characters ensures that this book is met with heart and humor. A book for every reader.

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