Being of black and Chinese heritage, Ana feels she has to be all things to all people. But as her Chinese father points out, she's a combination of the best both cultures offer in much the same way a good Chinese dish combines different flavors (hence the title) and comes out perfect and delicious. The book takes place over middle school graduation day and the narrative pace can be somewhat frenzied. But readers who have been thoroughly embarrassed on a regular basis by their own families will identify with Ana's mortifications. The particularly humorous scenes depict the prickly interactions of the two grandmothers as they try to one-up each other with increasingly extravagant graduation gifts for their beloved granddaughter. ( )

Ana is graduating from eighth grade. Ana’s mother is African-American and his father is Chines-American. Ana’s family and grandparents come to her graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, a water pipe breaks and the salon and dance floor flooded. She wanted to take the dancing opportunity to talk to Jamie, her crush classmate, but the pip break ruined everything. However, she then thought to invite Jamie to the family dinner. Her grandparents are not happy with this as they do not get along with cross cultural communication. The grandmothers usually try to race with each other with gifts and stories. Now, they try to do the same to prepare the perfect dishes for Ana's graduation dinner with different foods. Finally, their different cultures and tastes mix together and complement each other and satisfy Ana.
This book is good for middle school students, growing up multi-cultural and bi-racial, which encourages the respect and appreciation of different cultures. It is a story that highlights a multi-cultural family and their struggles and issues and everyone can relate to that. However, it could have developed the characters better. ( )

Personal Response:
An insightful journey into the life of a biracial teenage girl who is trying to fit in and find an identity for herself when family and friends all seem to have different expectations.

Curricular or Programming Connections:
Excellent curriculum support for understanding the effects of prejudice and racism and for understanding what it is to be bi- or multi-racial.

The plot was good -- all food-centered plots are good -- but the voice was a little off. The little bits of truth (they were there!) were just plain painful, with not too much redemption afterwards. It was technically a "happy ending" but it was not a satisfying one. ( )

When the 8th grade graduation dance is canceled, Ana Shen sees her last chance to hang out with her crush Jamie Tabata sinking down the drain. Then her best friend invites Jamie and his parents to a graduation dinner at Ana's house. Ana really wants to make a good impression on him, but with two sets of competitive grandparents, can she keep the peace long enough to get through dinner? This is the sweet, funny story of one chaotic dinner. Nothing turns out as Ana had planned, but that might not be such a bad thing in the end. It was a little bit too After School Special for my taste and a few things are left unexplained, but I enjoyed it overall. ( )