De la Cruz, Melissa - Fresh Off the Boat

[oyceter]

I went on a bit of a spree at the library yesterday and basically grabbed any random YA book that looked like it had girls of color in it. Thankfully, I liked the first one I read!

Vicenza (called "V") just moved to South San Francisco from Manila. Her family has to shop at the Salvation Army instead of Chanel like they used to, she misses her old friends, and, worst of all, she's going to a fancy all-girls school on a scholarship -- i.e. no boys!

V, as you can tell, is a bit shallow at times. She thinks mostly about clothes and boys and wishes the popular girls at school would magically befriend her. But honestly, that's a large part of why I loved this so much. It's YA chicklit, and it would be completely unremarkable, except V is a Filipino immigrant. I loved finding a YA book with a POC heroine that wasn't all about identity crises and learning to accept your own culture; I think those books are good and necessary, but personally, been there, done that, have the t-shirt.

V desperately wants to fit in, she hates not having money, and she's horribly embarrassed by her parents, but she's not ashamed of being Filipino. She's ashamed of a lot of the results of being Filipino and being an immigrant, but the sense that I got was that it was just another bit of embarrassment in the general land of "You're embarrassing me! Woe!" that is a fourteen-year-old's life.

It's hard to explain, but it just didn't feel like the "I wish I were white" shame in a lot of Asian-American YA lit (again, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that, because hi! I could have been the poster child for that). And OMG people! It sounds like such a small thing, but it made me so, so happy.

I think part of it is because she did grow up rich in Manila, which is very different from growing up Filipino-American, but still. Also, I have class issues like woah with the book, and by the end (and by reading the author's website), I am fairly convinced that while de la Cruz deals a little with them by the end, she doesn't find them quite as questionable as I do.

But in the end, I had a lot of fun reading the book. I laughed a lot because V is such an emo fourteen-year-old ("I'll be in a BUTT BOW! I hate my dress!! I hate it!! AGGHHH. I'M SO MISERABLE!!!!!"), but I say that with the greatest affection. V's voice is fun and silly, I loved seeing bits of Filipino culture without having it be "Look! We are Filipino!" in giant flashing lights, I loved the little Bay Area details, and even though her concerns are fairly small in the large scale, I was rooting for her the entire way.

Links:
- sanguinity's review
- furyofvissarion's review

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

Oh, I totally have to check this out!

[oyceter]

Yes! It's really fun! I think most people who would like chicklit would like it, and also, Filipino heroine!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't usually like chick lit, but that sounds pretty fun.

Granted that books focusing on the experience of being a minority are necessary, when I was a kid what I really wanted to read were books where the heroine was Jewish (or just female) that weren't specifically about the experience of being Jewish (or female) in a prejudiced society. (Like the "All-of-a-Kind-Family" series.) Actually, I still prefer those.

That was one of the things I liked in Margo Rabb's Cures for Heartbreak-- the heroine is Jewish and that affects her life, self, and family, but the book is about grief, family, and moving on, not anti-Semistism, the Holocaust, or the difficulty of being a Jew in America.

[oyceter]

when I was a kid what I really wanted to read were books where the heroine was Jewish (or just female) that weren't specifically about the experience of being Jewish (or female) in a prejudiced society. (Like the "All-of-a-Kind-Family" series.) Actually, I still prefer those.

Yeah, me too! Because I sort of know what it's like to be female or Chinese in a prejudiced society, so while I want books that acknowledge that, I want books where people like me get to kick butt or go shopping or play with rats or whatnot as well.

I've really been enjoying Rabb's book, so thanks for the rec! I've especially liked how Holocaust survivor guilt is always there in the background, but how, like you say, it's not what the book is about.

[chomiji]

(I used to volunteer in our synagogue library, and that was one of the things that most distressed me - almost all the YA books were problem books and the problem was that the protagonist was Jewish. I found myself thinking, "Wow, with all this dreary stuff, how are we supposed to expect our teens to think positively about being Jewish?")

[oyceter]

Ooh, yes! I just... I think they have their place, but there should be books beyond that as well.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Here by way of yhlee:

OMG, a book with a Filipino heroine? I must check this out!

[oyceter]

Yes! I love it! I mean, I love chick lit to begin with, but still!

[kindofspark.livejournal.com]

Mh. When I was a teenager I'd have hated this book, I think. My reaction would have been like V, you're so shallow OMG; then again, I was such a serious kid.

But now, I don't know if out of nostalgia or because of growing up, I'm more indulgent. I'm sure I'll enjoy this book, I'll check it out!

[oyceter]

Hee, yeah, I think teenaged me wouldn't have had as much fun, but then, the narrative voice is so breezy and enjoyable and not ironic, but you can sort of tell that de la Cruz genuinely likes V.

[grimorie.livejournal.com]

whoa! this is awesome must check it out!

[oyceter]

I was really excited by it too!