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marywahlmeierbracciano's review
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
Love, Love is an absolutely brilliant #OwnVoices middle grade novel in verse, written with an expert hand. Frances is a Chinese American girl living with her sister—Clara—and their parents in Michigan. Clara wears a wig or a hat every day because of a bald patch created by hair loss. When bullies at school steal the wig and hide it, Frances is determined to put her Nancy Drew obsession to the test and find it, while also vying to solve the puzzle as to why Clara’s hair is falling out in the first place.
Frances distracts herself by playing tennis with a friend—and eventually as part of her school’s team—despite her conservative immigrant parents’ wishes. Then, a peek into Clara’s diary solves the mystery of her hair loss—she suffers from trichotillomania, a hair-pulling disorder. This is a great introduction into a mental illness that is not often talked about, especially within the AAPI community.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Bullying