Monday, March 13, 2006

Half and Half, by Lensey Namioka

When Fiona Cheng has to indicate her race on a class registration form, she doesn't know which box to check. She's half Chinese and half Scottish. And as the Folk Festival comes up, Fiona gets an opportunity to explore her notions of her own identity and those of her friends as well.

Fairly basic by-the-numbers middle reader about racial identity. No major crises, Fiona solves all of her family's problems, and everyone is very happy in the end. It's warm, it's caring, it may even teach a valuable lesson or two, but it doesn't really have much substance behind it and the clunkiness of the prose will keep this out of the limelight.

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