The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling

December 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Life isn't easy for Anna Chiu. She has to take care of her younger brother and sister while her father is busy working at the family's Chinese restaurant, and her mother can't get out of bed. With all the responsibility, Anna feels like she can't be a typical teen, until she meets Rory. He is hired as a delivery boy for the restaurant, and the two bond on the long rides home. When Anna's mom finally gets out of bed, things appear to look up, but actually go from bad to worse. Tackling family, relationships, culture, and mental health, this book is a fast-paced and fabulous read. The story takes place in Australia and features Anna and her Chinese Australian family. Rory and several other characters are white, and the other restaurant employees and some of Anna's peers are of Asian descent. This book shines a light on mental illness and how it affects not only the person who lives with it, but also their loved ones. Some aspects of the novel are on the darker side, such as learning Anna's mom used to hit her daughters with a feather duster, but they are handled gently. Some readers may be unfamiliar with the Australian and Cantonese terminology, but the lack of understanding won't take away from the story. VERDICT A good addition to any collection, but especially for those looking to diversify it.-Amanda Borgia, Uniondale P.L., NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2020
Sixteen-year-old Anna cares for younger siblings and experiences first love while dealing with her mother's mental illness. Anna Chiu, a Chinese Australian teenager, is older sister to Lily, 13, and Michael, 5. Their father usually sleeps over at the family's Chinese restaurant, leaving the children to cope with their erratic mother's extreme, paranoid behaviors. On a good day, Ma is present, taking the kids on outings; on bad days she rants embarrassingly about the perfidies of Western culture or shakes the girls awake in the middle of the night to accuse them of disloyalty. On the worst days she is catatonic in bed. Anna's schoolwork suffers and she feels alienated by her overachieving, popular Asian Australian schoolmates whose lives seem less burdened than her own. She starts helping out at the restaurant in hopes of bringing her family closer and alleviating their financial insecurity, leading to a romantic relationship with Rory, the White delivery boy--a sensitive, theatrical soul who is hiding his own secrets--that provides comfort. Ma's episodes are outlined in strikingly authentic, heart-rending detail, as is the variety of the children's emotional, PTSD-like responses; traumatized and yearning for normality, their portrayals ring especially true. Anna's stomach churns with anxiety while Lily is often angry and Michael, scared and confused. Gritty details lend depth to this viscerally powerful tale of a teen struggling to help her troubled family. (resources) (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 4, 2019
Sixteen-year-old Anna comes from a relatively traditional Chinese-Australian family. Originally from Hong Kong, her father owns a restaurant while her mother stays at home to look after the children. Anna is coasting by at school, her lack of high achievement made more difficult by her mother’s increasing inability to get out of bed and her father’s near-constant absence. With a younger brother and sister, it has fallen to Anna to become caretaker as their mother’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, switching between weeks spent in bed to frantic night-time cleaning and even delusions. It is obvious that Anna’s mother suffers from a mental illness, but Anna’s fierce loyalty to her family, and a fear that her siblings will be removed, prevents her from seeking the help they desperately need. This is a touching and emotional exploration of the effects of living with a mentally ill parent. This scenario of having to assume the role of parent will be familiar for some teens and highlights the constant struggle between wanting to have a ‘normal’ home life and having to manage an unpredictable parent. This is also a welcome exploration of Chinese-Australian culture and a moving story of family love, recommended for readers aged 14 and up.

Erin Wamala has worked in publishing and bookselling, and is currently a teacher librarian