Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 12/01/2022 *Starred Review* Lina was five years old when her parents and two-year-old sister moved from China to America, leaving Lina with her beloved grandmother. For five years, Lina has wondered why she was left behind. Now she is flying to Los Angeles to grow up with her sister and her parents. Confused by the disconnect between her dreams of America and the reality of her family’s poverty, she helps her mother make and sell items in hopes of avoiding eviction from their small apartment. Lina feels guilty about leaving her aging grandmother, and she avoids speaking English at school for fear of ridicule. But after she begins to accept help from others, Lina discovers allies, learns to express her emotions through words and pictures, and even finds the courage to speak up before the school board when a wealthy parent seeks to ban a book by a Chinese American writer. In this involving, realistic chapter book, a likable character overcomes a series of obstacles while forging strong connections with her parents, her sister, and two friends. Yang, the author of Front Desk (2018), writes with a beguiling combination of clarity, simplicity, and immediacy in a new story exploring the practical and emotional challenges of immigration as experienced by children. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 09/29/2023 Gr 3–7—Arriving in Los Angeles from Beijing after five years away from her parents and little sister Millie, fifth grader Lina Gao has a lot of challenges. First, she found that her parents have been lying about their lives in the U.S.—her microbiologist dad is not a scientist as he claimed in his letters; he is an organic regenerative farmer who works at least 15 hours a day in the field. Her family does not live in a two-story blue house with a white fence, but in a cramped apartment in Los Ramos where she sleeps on a bunk bed. And her mother and little sister make and sell bath bombs on Etsy to repay the extensive back rent they owe from the pandemic. Lina also discovers her parents' green card applications still haven't been filed, after years of waiting. On top of that, Lina has a lot of adjustments at school, including making friends and speaking English. Luckily, she is assigned to work with a special education teacher, Mrs. Ortis, who is a young immigrant from Guatemala. With support from Mrs. Ortis and school librarian Mrs. Hollis, who recommends books that speak to her experience, Lina begins to adjust to her new life. Yang's latest depicts Lina's courage, kindness, and hard work to navigate her first year in the U.S. while building relationships new and old. VERDICT A great novel that depicts the challenges of being a Chinese immigrant in the U.S. while highlighting universally relatable themes of feeling like an outcast for middle schoolers.—Anna Ching-Yu Wong - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.