Lily LaMotte

When Cici's parents declare they are moving to Seattle, Cici is devasted to be leaving behind her grandmother in Taiwan. The only thing that gives her hope is that her grandmother might visit soon -- perhaps even for her 70th birthday -- but her grandmother insists the flight is too costly. But when Cici stumbles upon a local cooking competition for kids with a $1,000 cash prize, she is convinced she can easily win the flight money with the culinary skills she learned from her grandmother. However, she soon sees that Asian cuisine isn't preferred by the competition's American judges. Will Cici be able to assimilate in her new home, make new friends, keep her grades high enough for her parents to be happy, and maybe, just maybe, earn the money needed to allow her grandmother to visit?

This was a really sweet and excellently executed book for upper elementary and middle grade readers (and even some lower elementary advanced readers). Cici is a good kid who tries to please her family but also wants to follow her own path. Her attempts at friendship are tentative at first and she worries that she will be teased for being un-American, but she and her friends soon learn they are more alike than different but also to appreciate those differences.

The cooking competition is surprisingly tense, even if it feels like you should know the outcome. If you really like cooking shows, I'm sure this is an even more compelling part of the book. It was definitely interesting enough for me, especially with hearing about all the interesting recipes the children come up with around a special ingredient each time. Truly, the only major downside of reading this book is that you will walk away hungry!

A minor quibble is that several bits of text (notably, the ingredients in recipes) are penciled in a cursive-style text, which may be something younger readers don't know well enough to decipher. All in all, however, this was definitely a fun and interesting book. The short chapters make you say to yourself, 'okay, just one more chapter,' until you are done before you know it. The illustrations fit the tone of the book well and help to tell the story.… (meer)

* reviewed from uncorrected eARC via netgalley *

children's middlegrade graphic fiction - Though her older sister Claire has always been proud of her Taiwanese roots, middleschooler Michelle prefers to try to blend in with the white popular girls at her Seattle school. To Michelle's dismay, her parents decide to send her to Taiwanese-American camp where Claire has been hired as a junior counselor for three weeks at the end of summer.

Michelle spends 95% of the book being uncomfortable and/or miserably regretful, making this story quite a bit more serious (and less funny?) than Be Prepared or Sisters, though those stories do share some similarities. I did find Michelle's situation relatable and I enjoyed learning a little bit about Taiwanese language and food; I'm sure that plenty of kids out there will also relate, though Unhappy Camper may not quite reach "mainstream" popularity.

Note: Illustrations had plenty of kid-appeal, but textual clues (and different hairstyles) were very useful as well as necessary in telling characters apart--sisters Claire and Michelle looked like twins but Claire wears her hair in a ponytail; senior counselor Andrea was a little taller and had a longer ponytail than Claire; Kat is taller and has wavier hair than Jess.

See also: Betty Tang's Parachute Kids.… (meer)