Review by Booklist Review
Grieving for her beloved grandfather, who died in January, 13-year-old Ruby also misses her two best friends (one moved from San Francisco to New York City, the other to the girls' soccer table in the lunchroom). Still, in retrospect, getting caught ditching school during lunchtime just weeks before summer vacation wasn't smart, as her parents grounded her until summer, which she must spend mainly with Nai-Nai, her grandmother, who lives nearby in Chinatown. Gradually, she begins to enjoy being with Nai-Nai and her friends at a nearby senior center and getting to know a classmate who volunteers there. Ruby's concerns about Nai-Nai's memory escalate when her grandmother gets lost close to home. Eventually, Ruby's parents begin to readjust their thinking. Reflecting Li's knowledge of Chinese American immigrant culture, Ruby's first-person narrative is particularly engaging when she begins retracing her steps from her grandfather's legendary scavenger hunts and, with her grandmother, shares a moment of healing and unity with the past. Vividly imagined characters, relationships, and family dynamics are at the heart of this involving novel, in which building tension causes troubles that seem to dissipate but then lead to a crisis that cannot be ignored. A moving, intergenerational story with a narrator who becomes increasingly aware of others.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In an affecting contemporary novel from Li (Clues to the Universe), Chinese American Ruby Chu, 13, struggles to process the death of her beloved paternal grandfather, Ye-Ye; her sister's impending departure for college; and the splintering of her friend group. After Ruby gets in trouble for ditching school, her parents decide that she will spend summer weekdays and weeknights with her Nai-Nai, who lives near San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite some initial awkwardness, Ruby finds comfort and stability in the routine of visiting Nai-Nai's friends at the senior recreation center, where she also befriends schoolmate Liam Yeung. But the news that May's Bakery--a Chinatown institution as well as a beloved spot for Ruby and Ye-Ye--may sell to developers, and Nai-Nai's worsening memory, threaten Ruby's fragile peace. Interspersing the present-day narrative with past scenes of Ruby and Ye-Ye's time together, Li balances youthful optimism as Ruby and Liam seek to save the bakery with harder realities as Ruby contends with her guilt about Ye-Ye's death and her own grief. It's an economically told, emotionally driven story that deftly incorporates multiple strands--around community care, gentrification, and the messy parts of familial change--while representing an inclusive Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking Chinatown community. Ages 8--12. Agent: Jessica Regel, Helm Literary. (May)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Thirteen-year-old Ruby Chu is grieving the death of Ye-Ye, her paternal grandfather, who would devise elaborate scavenger hunts around San Francisco's Chinatown for her. Ruby has also lost her best friends Mia, who moved away, and Naomi, who has become closer with her soccer teammates. Even her sister, Viv, is moving across the country for college at the end of the summer. When Ruby gets caught ditching school, her parents send her off to Nai-Nai's house for the summer. She spends the weekdays with her grandmother, visiting her friends ("a bunch of old Chinese ladies") at the senior center, making tea, and watching Chinese dramas. An otherwise boring summer is interrupted when a newcomer, Liam, also no stranger to grief, appears at the senior center with his Maa-Maa. Summer slowly rolls on, Nai-Nai begins exhibiting signs of dementia, and Ye-Ye's favorite bakery, a staple of Chinatown, threatens to close due to development. What begins as an isolating and overwhelming journey through grief turns hopeful as Ruby makes new friends, opens up to the people she loves most, and learns that she doesn't have to navigate change alone. (c) Copyright 2024. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Big feelings are uncomfortable but to be expected in this story of finding joy and community amid change and loss. With her best friend, Mia Ortega-Anderson, moving across the country to New York, Chinese American Ruby Chu was already afraid of seventh grade, but nothing prepared her for another close friend drifting away and the unexpected death of her beloved paternal grandfather. After Ruby's caught ditching school, her parents decide she'll spend summer weekdays with Nai-Nai, her paternal grandmother. At first reluctant to stay somewhere her grandfather is noticeably absent, Ruby's walls lower as she and Nai-Nai speak openly about their grief. As Ruby begins to open up and find a comfortable routine, more big changes threaten her fragile sense of safety. When a family friend's bakery is poised for closure, Ruby and classmate Liam Yeung set out to save it. The San Francisco Chinatown community is realistically presented: Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken, not every older adult is an immigrant, and a variety of professions and experiences are portrayed. It's unclear if impulsive, restless Ruby, who struggles in school, is neurodiverse or just stands out compared to the rest of her driven, focused family. Readers will identify with Ruby's roller coaster of emotions amid the challenges of growing up: loved ones leaving, friendships waning, and fitting into the world authentically. Ruby is incredibly self-aware, and her emotions are given space and validity without excusing harm done. Empathetic and emotionally intelligent. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
