Friday, April 5, 2013

Bjorkman, Lauren. Miss Fortune Cookie.


Bjorkman, Lauren.  Miss Fortune Cookie.  Macmillan/Henry Holt     2012  279p  $16.99      978-0-8050-8951-6       hs      Realistic Fiction       VG
     
Erin and her best friends are seniors at an exclusive public school in San Francisco.  Mei and Linny are Chinese but Erin is not.  She was born in China to Caucasian parents and believes that she is “Chinese on the inside.”  The girls are all waiting to hear which colleges have accepted them, with drastically different attitudes.  Mei’s mother expects her only child to go to Harvard, but Mei is in love with a boy who will be attending Stanford and she wants to go there.  Linny expects to go to Berkeley with Erin, but Erin has also been accepted to Harvard.  Each girl must make the difficult decision that will best suit her future.  The personal decisions and angst are leavened by the presence of Miss Fortune Cookie, Erin’s anonymous alter ego, who dispenses advice and humor through her blog, based on the power of those little slips of paper.  The bond among the three girls and their families is a strong one and, no matter where life takes them, they will always be together in spirit.  The writing is thoughtful, yet not overladen with sentimentality, and will engage the reader with its candor, vitality, and humor.          

Chinese-Americans-Fiction                                   --Susan Ogintz

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Choosing a college/university is a major event in any young person's life. I find the idea of processing information through a blog foreign and fascinating. I look forward to reading this book!