  | Silence that binds us Author: Ho, Joanna | |
| Price: $22.58 | ||
Summary:
In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: UG Reading Level: 4.90 Points: 14.0 Quiz: 518244 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 07/01/2022 Gr 9 Up—High school junior Maybelline Chen is shattered when her beloved older brother Danny dies by suicide. Neither May nor her parents saw signs of depression in Danny, a Princeton-bound senior and popular athlete, and his death leaves them reeling with guilt. Then, a wealthy white parent at May's school lashes out with a racist gut-punch of an accusation, blaming "Asians" and "tiger parents" for increased student stress and competition and claiming that May's Chinese American father and Taiwanese mother placed so much pressure on her brother that he killed himself. Devastated and circumspect, May's parents ask her to keep quiet to protect her family from further backlash, but May's rage fuels her to writes a series of letters and poems for the local paper that evolve into broader collaborative and intersectional activism at school. Tackling a range of important, timely topics that include the history of anti-Asian discrimination in the United States, allyship among historically marginalized populations, and the power of narratives to uphold (or disrupt) systems of oppression, this is a powerful, hopeful YA debut from award-winning children's author Ho. While some dialogue veers into didacticism, May's journey through personal and familial grief is poignant and questions of power and privilege are explored with nuance that will spark conversation among teen readers. VERDICT Recommended for general purchase; hand to fans of Mark Oshiro's Anger Is a Gift, Misa Sugiura's This Time Will Be Different, or Kelly Loy Gilbert's When We Were Infinite. —Elizabeth Giles - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 05/01/2022 Maybelline Chen’s brother, Danny, a fun young man who has just been admitted to Princeton, is the shining star of the family. But when Danny suddenly ends his life, the Chen family is thrown into endless shock and grief. Their pain is compounded when an overly privileged white businessman blames the recent spate of teen suicides on parents who pressure their children academically, specifically calling out Chinese families, which include the Chinese Taiwanese American Chens. So angered by this overt racism, Maybelline and her friends mount a Take Back the Narrative campaign at school, despite parental and administrative admonishment to leave it alone. Inspired by the recent rise in hate crimes against AAPI and a rash of teen suicides in Palo Alto, CA, Ho’s story of inclusion, diversity, and social action rings true. Maybelline is a multifaceted narrator whose drive to right wrongs and stand up to injustice deserves applause. Ho illuminates both activism and mental health in marginalized communities, showing that even a bright, young achiever can experience depression without anyone knowing. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
