Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies) on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
If Patricia "Patty" Yi-Phen Ho had just one wish, she knows exactly what it would be. To be white. Full-out, red-white-and-blue, all-American, totally Caucasian white. Not the half-and-half mixture that she is now, with an overbearing Taiwanese mother and a long-gone Caucasian father. Not an Amazon-tall mishmash of ancestries that leave her looking like an overgrown Asian teenager or a really tanned white one. Just plain old, blend-into-the-crowd white.
When her mom drags her to a fortune-teller who gets her information from your bellybutton rather than a crystal ball, Patty knows she's in trouble. The "you're going to have three children" prediction is a little ludicrous, given the fact she can't even get a boyfriend. But what really freaks her out--not to mention sends her mother into a fit of unintelligible Taiwanese--is the fact that, according to bellybutton lady, Patty is destined to end up with a white guy.
For Patty, that works just fine. For her mother, not so good. If her mom had her way, Patty would never get within twenty feet of a white guy, never mind date one. No, her mom wants what she didn't get herself--a marriage to a nice, respectable, rich Taiwanese doctor. Or, if there are no doctors available, a businessman would be acceptable. Never mind what Patty wants, which at this moment is knowing if the hottest guy at school, Mark Scranton, will ever notice her.
Stunned into yet more lectures about life as a poor Taiwanese girl, Patty's mother decides that this summer, instead of lounging around and possibly getting a part-time job, Patty will attend math camp at Stanford. Since her older brother, Abe, is busy "preparing" for his upcoming attendance at Harvard, he's no help to get her out of this bind. So Patty sets off to camp, resigned to hanging out with geeks.
Except math camp turns out to be not as bad as she'd thought. There's some really good-looking guys there, guys with brains. Like Stu, who blesses her with her first kiss. And might possibly end up breaking her heart. For Patty, this summer could end up teaching her a whole lot more than math. Things like what it's like to really be American, and learning to love who you are. Because there are guys out there who can love a hapa girl for who she is--if she'll just learn to love herself first.
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is a great read for anyone who has ever had trouble discovering their identity, or for someone looking to find out how it feels to be different. A real winner!
If Patricia "Patty" Yi-Phen Ho had just one wish, she knows exactly what it would be. To be white. Full-out, red-white-and-blue, all-American, totally Caucasian white. Not the half-and-half mixture that she is now, with an overbearing Taiwanese mother and a long-gone Caucasian father. Not an Amazon-tall mishmash of ancestries that leave her looking like an overgrown Asian teenager or a really tanned white one. Just plain old, blend-into-the-crowd white.
When her mom drags her to a fortune-teller who gets her information from your bellybutton rather than a crystal ball, Patty knows she's in trouble. The "you're going to have three children" prediction is a little ludicrous, given the fact she can't even get a boyfriend. But what really freaks her out--not to mention sends her mother into a fit of unintelligible Taiwanese--is the fact that, according to bellybutton lady, Patty is destined to end up with a white guy.
For Patty, that works just fine. For her mother, not so good. If her mom had her way, Patty would never get within twenty feet of a white guy, never mind date one. No, her mom wants what she didn't get herself--a marriage to a nice, respectable, rich Taiwanese doctor. Or, if there are no doctors available, a businessman would be acceptable. Never mind what Patty wants, which at this moment is knowing if the hottest guy at school, Mark Scranton, will ever notice her.
Stunned into yet more lectures about life as a poor Taiwanese girl, Patty's mother decides that this summer, instead of lounging around and possibly getting a part-time job, Patty will attend math camp at Stanford. Since her older brother, Abe, is busy "preparing" for his upcoming attendance at Harvard, he's no help to get her out of this bind. So Patty sets off to camp, resigned to hanging out with geeks.
Except math camp turns out to be not as bad as she'd thought. There's some really good-looking guys there, guys with brains. Like Stu, who blesses her with her first kiss. And might possibly end up breaking her heart. For Patty, this summer could end up teaching her a whole lot more than math. Things like what it's like to really be American, and learning to love who you are. Because there are guys out there who can love a hapa girl for who she is--if she'll just learn to love herself first.
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is a great read for anyone who has ever had trouble discovering their identity, or for someone looking to find out how it feels to be different. A real winner!
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
Half-white, half-Asian Patty Ho has never felt complete. Her white friends always joke about her crazy Taiwanese mother's ways, and Patty shuns the company of the goodie-goodie Anne Wong, the only other Asian girl at her school. But worst of all in Patty's life is her mother, who's a five-foot-tall, traditional, wary, embarrassing Mom-inator, complete with foreign accent. Mom's worst regret is her marriage with the father of Patty and her older brother Abe (oh, did we mention that beloved Abe is going to Harvard?). He disappeared mysteriously when Patty was 2, and no one ever talks about him.
When a bellybutton fortune reading reveals that Patty will marry a white man, her mother freaks out and ships her off to math camp at Stanford along with Anne. But Palo Alto, California is a lot different than Washington State. There a millions of Asian guys (which ought to make Patty's mom happy, as she wants her daughter to marry a rich Taiwanese man). There's Stu, for example, who's hot, Chinese, AND thinks hapas are cute. And Patty is slowly beginning to learn to love being "the best of both worlds."
Of course, there's still her crazy worrywart mother to ruin her summer... but what turns out to be heartbreak and humiliation may reveal clues about her mother's past that Patty never knew.
Justina Chen Headley takes readers through every aspect of Patty's emotional understanding of herself. With plenty of self-deprecating humor and Asian references, this book accurately depicts the confusing life of a hapa, and how she learns to love herself for who she is... no lies.
When a bellybutton fortune reading reveals that Patty will marry a white man, her mother freaks out and ships her off to math camp at Stanford along with Anne. But Palo Alto, California is a lot different than Washington State. There a millions of Asian guys (which ought to make Patty's mom happy, as she wants her daughter to marry a rich Taiwanese man). There's Stu, for example, who's hot, Chinese, AND thinks hapas are cute. And Patty is slowly beginning to learn to love being "the best of both worlds."
Of course, there's still her crazy worrywart mother to ruin her summer... but what turns out to be heartbreak and humiliation may reveal clues about her mother's past that Patty never knew.
Justina Chen Headley takes readers through every aspect of Patty's emotional understanding of herself. With plenty of self-deprecating humor and Asian references, this book accurately depicts the confusing life of a hapa, and how she learns to love herself for who she is... no lies.
