This is the third book in the Yang series.
Of all the Yangs, Second Sister is having the hardest time with the move to America. In China she had lots of friends and was always socializing. Here in America, she is inflexible and angry. Rather than try to fit in, she clings to things that remind her of China: her long braids, her cloth slippers, her high collar jacket. When the Yangs meet the Eng family, her younger siblings hope this will the opportunity she needs to make friends. Surely Second Sister will be excited to meet other people with Chinese heritage. But everything is wrong. The Engs are not newly arrived, in fact, the Eng children were born in America. To Second Sister, they are not nearly Chinese enough.
Her younger siblings decide to take matters into their own hands and hatch a plan to get Second Sister a boyfriend. Obviously, things go wrong, but in the process they succeed in bringing Second Sister out of her shell.
Good for: This one is tricky. While it’s narrated by Fourth Brother (the littlest Yang), it’s primarily about Second Sister. I would say that it would be of interest more to middle grades girls despite the narrator.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Using Much Ado About Nothing for inspiration, the younger Yangs plot to get their sister a boyfriend. Of course, things always go awry when you make plans like that! While trying to track people in the woods without getting lost the children joke about using their clothes to mark the path.
Profanity – “stupid”, “idiot,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Paul has seen the movie The Birds and is a afraid of birds after watching them attack people in the movie. Fourth brother wants to see cowboys and Indians and wonders if they’ll be shooting at each other.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
