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storytimed's review
4.0
Cute but a little plain. I did like the War of the Grandmothers, but I wanted more humor from their passive-aggressive one-upmanship.
abigailbat's review
3.0
When the 8th grade graduation dance is canceled, Ana Shen sees her last chance to hang out with her crush Jamie Tabata sinking down the drain. Then her best friend invites Jamie and his parents to a graduation dinner at Ana's house. Ana really wants to make a good impression on him, but with two sets of competitive grandparents, can she keep the peace long enough to get through dinner? This is the sweet, funny story of one chaotic dinner. Nothing turns out as Ana had planned, but that might not be such a bad thing in the end. It was a little bit too After School Special for my taste and a few things are left unexplained, but I enjoyed it overall.
jenndazzle's review
3.0
Continuing my journey through children’s/YA books with diverse characters!
the_booksnom's review
5.0
I wasn't so ecited to read this, I choose it form my 2019 Popsugar reading challenge, because everthing with "sweet" was very steamy hot romace that is totally not my type.
And maybe is not really a 5 star book, it's a little fast and sloppy, but omg i had fun reading it!!
The chaos, the fights and the food, everything is hot, sour, salty and sweet. Loved it!
And maybe is not really a 5 star book, it's a little fast and sloppy, but omg i had fun reading it!!
The chaos, the fights and the food, everything is hot, sour, salty and sweet. Loved it!
conniek07's review
2.0
Nice story and interesting characters, but I found the writing itself to be rather stilted.
maidmarianlib's review
2.0
Interesting premise and it did have potential, but the characters don't really ring true, and the additional stories don't add much to the theme. Overall does not work.
hezann73's review
3.0
Ana Shen invites her middle school crush to a dinner party at her house the night of graduation - but there is no party planned. Ana has just hours to pull off a feast with the help of her parents and her grandparents. The trick is, her Chinese grandparents don't get along with her African American grandparents - not exactly the recipe for a smooth evening.
This was a light read, but fun.
This was a light read, but fun.
tora76's review
3.0
When a pipe bursts during Ana Shen's middle school graduation, flooding the field and cutting the ceremony short, it doesn't seem like things could get any worse. Then comes the announcement that the gym is flooded, too, and the graduation dance is cancelled. The dance was going to be Ana's big chance to tell Jamie Tabata she likes him before they go their separate ways for high school, but when her best friend Chelsea ends up inviting Jamie and his family over to Ana's for a graduation dinner, it looks like there might be hope after all. Assuming Ana can keep her grandmothers' rivalry from ruining everything.[return][return]I'd seen several reviews for this on and wasn't really that interested, but after reading and loving Flygirl, I decided to give some of Smith's other books a try. This...is definitely no Flygirl. It's cute enough, and it's nice to see a biracial main character (or any character!) who isn't half white, but I wasn't wowed or anything.[return][return]I really think the book could have used a lot more editing. Most of it is fine, but it starts to fall apart at the ending, which seems really rushed, plus has a couple of chapters that don't really fit. At one point her grandfather starts telling a story and instead of just making it quick or summarising, we actually get a random flashback chapter in his POV about the event he's relating. We also get a few paragraphs in one of the grandmothers' POV towards the end, in a story that has otherwise been very tight third person with only one POV. It just seemed sloppy.[return][return]Also I was really excited about the story being set in LA at first, but it ended up being more frustrating than anything because the author gave all sorts of conflicting details. The kids have gone to school together since kindergarten, yet for some reason they all go to an elementary school in a totally different zone than where they live. (One person going to a far away public school might have some excuse, but not a whole class.) Then the high school mentioned is not the high school that middle school feeds into. Neither is it the high school she would actually be going to for where she's supposed to live. Which being less than a mile from the beach would be Santa Monica and she'd go to SaMoHi, not Uni (also everyone keeps saying University High and I'm sorry but I have never heard anyone call it that; it's Uni). Plus the author gives a freeway exit that they're supposed to live near, which is not less than a mile from the beach, either.[return][return]I really don't know what she was thinking. The jacket flap says she lives in LA, so it's not just that she didn't know what she was talking about. It's like she wanted to use real names of stuff, but didn't want to be specific, so she ended up taking bits from all over. If you don't want to be specific, then either be vague or make up names of school and stuff. But if you're going to be specific then you have to get your facts right![return][return]Of course most of the people reading aren't going to know or care, but it really took a lot of fun out of it for me.
synth's review
2.0
It was okay for the most part. I did like that the main character is a mixed black and Chinese, strong, smart, pretty girl. And that she is able to talk herself out of changing herself to appeal to her peers (including the boy she likes). Also, the commentary on how people consider and talk about biraciality. And how her family has learned to be complacent and not point out someone's racism (however unsubtly it was handled, but I concede that it is a children's book). And the complex dynamics of prejudices/racism between non-white people of different ethnicities.
However, that the author chose a Japanese man to be the racist abusive jerk against which the MC finally takes a stand fills a little like a cop-out (where it's not about racism as much as an awful individual; not to mention the more complex relation of Japanese people and racism). The grandmothers rivalry to gain their granddaughter's love with more and more extravagant gifts and growing pressure on her is too unbelievable for my enjoyment but children's book. On a more cultural aspect, I have a problem with the very stereotypical characterization of the Chinese grandmother as naggy, and obsessed with reputation and grades; as well as the romanticization of her seducing her older husband when he was her teacher. (On a side note, I have never met a non-white person who did not rinse rice before cooking it.) (On an additional side note, what teenager says she "has the hots" for a boy?) I am also so very tired of those narratives with another teenage girl as the cheap and fake rival of the main character for a nice clueless boy's attention.
However, that the author chose a Japanese man to be the racist abusive jerk against which the MC finally takes a stand fills a little like a cop-out (where it's not about racism as much as an awful individual; not to mention the more complex relation of Japanese people and racism). The grandmothers rivalry to gain their granddaughter's love with more and more extravagant gifts and growing pressure on her is too unbelievable for my enjoyment but children's book. On a more cultural aspect, I have a problem with the very stereotypical characterization of the Chinese grandmother as naggy, and obsessed with reputation and grades; as well as the romanticization of her seducing her older husband when he was her teacher. (On a side note, I have never met a non-white person who did not rinse rice before cooking it.) (On an additional side note, what teenager says she "has the hots" for a boy?) I am also so very tired of those narratives with another teenage girl as the cheap and fake rival of the main character for a nice clueless boy's attention.
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