Book Review: My Father the Panda Killer

By Jamie Jo Hoang

Jane, a first generation American, works hard to learn everything she can, and be the top of her class all the while working at her father’s store and caring for her younger brother, Paul. Her mother left the family without a trace when Paul was an infant, so Jane, as a young teen grew up fast. Vietnamese traditions are followed to the letter in the household. Sadly, this includes regular beatings from Jane’s father. If she did anything her father disliked or didn’t do exactly what he wanted her to do when he wanted her to do it, she was beaten. Soon Jane will be in college, but worries endlessly that Paul will soon be the victim of her father’s foul moods and beatings while she is gone.

Phuc, father of Jane and Paul, is a hard drinking, controlling man. As a child refuge, he made the long and tortuous trip in more than one boat to what he hoped was freedom. His family was still in Vietnam, so he was on his own to find his way in the world. Life for him was more than often painful both physically and mentally. Food was in short supply and fights would erupt at any time resulting in maiming and often death among the passengers.

The small family holds tight to each other throughout the long hard days of work, school and the day-to-day chores that have to be done at both home and the store. When Phuc tells his children they are all going to Vietnam to see his family, the children are shocked. When they arrive, they are greeted with kindness and love. This reunion also ignites the flame in Phuc’s heart to spend more time with his family, allowing Jane and Paul to not only learn about their ancestry, but also embrace it.

This tale of family, love and loss is tempered by the long, difficult road they have traveled. The chapters alternate between Jan and Phuc, reading about their lives first person. This enables each character to have their own voice, making the narrative much more powerful and contrasting the lives of each of the characters.

Written by the daughter of Vietnamese parents, author Jamie Jo Hoang brings the ring of truth about so many immigrants to her fiction. This is the first book I have read from Ms. Hoang, but I will seek out her adult novel, Blue Sun, Yellow Sky. I highly recommend My Father the Panda Killer to young adults as well as adults.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from the Netgalley and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2023 Laura Hartman

Book Review: Does My Body Offend You?

By Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt

In 2017, amid the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Maria in the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico, more than 135,000 Puerto Ricans left the island, moving to the United States. Many were students, assimilating into a different culture and daily routines and expectations.

Malena, an honor student, is one of those displaced by Maria. She now lives in Miami with her mother, close to other family members that have lived there long before the upheaval in Puerto Rico. Her father stayed on the island, helping with the restoration of basic necessities such as power and water.

Life is different, but Malena is an honor student trying to learn the culture and assimilate as best she can. Things were going pretty well until the day she was so sunburn she could not wear a bra to school. Her mother insisted it would be fine to go braless, but one of the teachers thought differently. She was sent to the principal’s office and the nurse’s office. Eventually she was humiliated by the nurse insisting that she wear panty liners taped to her nipples. She was given detention because they said it was against the dress code to go braless – which eventually is found to be false. When one of the popular girls, Ruby, finds out about what happened to Malena, she begins the rebellion. Standing up for her rights was not what Malena bargained for, yet she ends up being the poster girl for the revolution.

Does My Body Offend You? Is an interesting coming of age novel for teens and adults. There are situations that would not be appropriate for younger readers. That being said, it is beautifully complex. The melding of cultures is interesting and informative. The characters are fully developed and complex. Both authors have created a seamless collaborative novel about difficult situations that will make you think of the characters and situations long after the last pages are read.

Author Myra Cuevas was born in Puerto Rico and is a professional journalist and fiction writer. Does My Body Offend You? is her second novel, the first, Salty Bitter Sweet, is a YA aswell. Award winning author Marie Marquardt is an author of young adult novels, a college professor, and an immigration advocate. Marquardt’s second novel, The Radius of Us is also a novel of Latin American teenagers seeking asylum in the United States.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from the Author and Netgalley and the author in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2022 Laura Hartman