Author: Lisa Yee
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Hike to Home by Jess Rinker
Partly Cloudy by Tanita S Davis
Rating:
.JPG)
Summary (provided by publisher): Welcome to the Golden Palace!
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.
My opinion: Yee has created a solid balance between Maizy's modern experience and the stories about her family's connection to Minnesota. There are thematic parallels between the two that encourage young readers to reflect and compare. It's not terribly deep, perhaps, but hits about right for a fourth or fifth grader. More importantly, the characters are realistic and well developed. We care about these characters and even secondary and tertiary characters have multiple aspects. A solid read for most any middle grade reader.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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