Review: American Panda
I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria Chao and getting my book signed at the LA Times Festival of Books. I listened to her speak on a panel at the YA stage, where she spoke about her own pressures to follow the path that had been chosen for her by family.
AMERICAN PANDA is sweet and funny book about the courage needed to become your own person, and loving one's culture while also redefining it. I recommend it to anyone with immigrant parents who feels a big sense of responsibility to them. Some pleasant surprises while I read: - humor: Gloria Chao is REALLY funny! She wrote a stand-up comedy scene that was awesome! - language: My one month immersion trip to China actually taught me a lot of Mandarin, so I was surprised that I understood a lot of the words! - the title: I didn't understand it, initially, until the mom makes a hilarious reference to pandas
I have four students who are going to Taiwan this summer, and I will recommend AMERICAN PANDA to them, so that they might be able to better able to experience their trip through multiple lenses.