Maizy Chen's Last Chance

I read Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee after seeing it won the Newbery Honor Award this year. The book description says, "Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. For instance: *You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food. *People can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways. *And the Golden Palace has secrets... But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing—and someone has left a racist note—Maizy decides it’s time to find the answers."

This was a great read. I had a library copy on the Kindle when we went on vacation overseas, and Emmeline (my 12-year-old) read the book before I even got a chance to. She was super engaged from the start and finished the book in a few days--which is saying a lot because she hasn't been a super engaged reader lately. I then read it on the flight home and really enjoyed it. I did shed some tears at the end but was able to keep it together since I was surrounded by people on the airplane. :) The author did a great job creating an interesting story with lovable characters, and I liked how the book taught meaningful lessons about racism and prejudice and on knowing and learning from our family history. Great read.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)