In the Beautiful Country

Starred review from April 1, 2022

Gr 5 Up-A beautifully written novel in verse about finding your way in the world. Set in 1980, Ai Shi/Anna, a Taiwanese girl, moves with her parents to California-or as they call it, the beautiful country. Anna is thrilled to be moving, until she arrives and learns that life in California isn't what she expected. She is the only Asian student at school, and the kids bully her for being different. Her parents put all their money into a fast food restaurant that is costing them more than they make, especially with reoccurring vandalism. What started as a big dream may actually be a big mistake. Kuo doesn't shy away from the hardships, but presents them in a suitable manner for the target audience. The racism that Anna and her parents experience is very relevant today, with some of the depictions (pulling at eyelids and reciting racist rhymes) likely to cause discomfort. This book is a work of fiction, but is inspired by Kuo and her family's immigration to the United States. While Anna was born in Taiwan, her father is Chinese, and she discovers what it means to be from both places during that time. Anna's story is a true journey, and Kuo skillfully breaks it into parts that allow readers to think and reflect on each piece before moving ont VERDICT A moving historical fiction book that is valuable for all readers and belongs in libraries and classrooms.-Amanda Borgia

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2022
A Taiwanese family tries their luck in America. In this verse novel, it's 1980, and nearly 11-year-old Ai Shi and her mother prepare to leave Taipei to join her father in California, where he is pursuing a business opportunity with a friend. The extended family send them off, telling Ai Shi she's so lucky to go to the "beautiful country"--the literal translation of the Chinese name for the U.S. Once they are reunited with Ba, he reveals that they have instead poured their savings into a restaurant in the remote Los Angeles County town of Duarte. Ma and Ba need to learn to cook American food, but at least, despite a betrayal by Ba's friend, they have their own business. However, the American dream loses its shine as language barriers, isolation, financial stress, and racism take their toll. Ai Shi internalizes her parents' disappointment in their new country by staying silent about bullying at school and her own unmet needs. Her letters home to her favorite cousin, Mei, maintain that all is well. After a year of enduring unrelenting challenges, including vandalism by local teens, the family reaches its breaking point. Hope belatedly arrives in the form of community allies and a change of luck. Kuo deftly touches on complex issues, such as the human cost of the history between China and Taiwan as well as the socio-economic prejudices and identity issues within Asian American communities. A powerfully candid and soulful account of an immigrant experience. (Verse historical fiction. 9-12)

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June 1, 2022
Grades 3-6 It's difficult for 10-year-old Anna to imagine leaving her grandparents, aunts, and cousins in Taiwan and joining her father in "the beautiful country, the Chinese name for America." He went first and bought a fast-food restaurant, which he is running alone, but soon Anna and her mother join him. Difficulties arise on every front: Anna struggles with discrimination against Asian Americans at school, the restaurant struggles to break even, and teen vandals throw bricks through the front window. Discouraged, her parents consider returning to Taiwan but gradually find the support they need to keep going. Inspired by their example, Anna decides how she wants to treat the people around her. Based on Kuo's experiences as an immigrant growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s, this novel in verse will resonate with many children who have faced similar challenges, including taunting, bullying, and, once they feel accepted by their peers, the temptation to be equally cruel to other newcomers. Anna's candid first-person narrative makes this first novel an absorbing and ultimately moving book.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 25, 2022
Kuo debuts with a pensive novel in verse centering a Taiwanese girl grappling with a new life in America. On the cusp of her 11th birthday in 1980, Zhang Ai Shi leaves behind the only place she’s ever known—along with all the people, places, and food that she loves—to move with her mother from Taipei to Duarte, California, and join her father to co-run a small fast-food restaurant. Their new home is in “the beautiful country,” as America is translated in Chinese, but it doesn’t feel beautiful, and it definitely doesn’t feel like home. As she works to familiarize herself with unfamiliar language, surroundings, and traditions, Ai Shi grapples for joy and comfort amid increasingly upsetting changes, including instances of classism, school bullies, and vandals attacking the family’s struggling new business as well as leveling racist slurs. Together, Ai Shi’s family must find a way to adjust while holding on to their memories and to each other. Employing a reflective tone and sincere lines that capture the heartbreak of leaving home alongside a clear portrayal of the family’s varied experiences, Kuo paints a vivid story of interpersonal bonds and persistence that also touches on nuances of navigating shared Taiwanese and Chinese ancestry. Ages 8–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.

July 1, 2022
At the start of this emotional novel in verse full of vivid imagery, ten-year-old Ai Shi Zhang and her parents leave Taiwan for the suburbs of Los Angeles. Money is tight after a business deal goes wrong and the family restaurant is repeatedly vandalized, and the Zhang family considers giving up and moving back. Ai Shi is forced to grow up quickly, code-switching and translating for her parents, all while suffering bullying at school and grappling with her new reality and shifts in identity. Kuo conveys the life of a new immigrant, including constant commentary from others on their differing appearances, clothing, and foods. In the end, Ai Shi learns to approach others, even her bullies, with a sense of generosity and empathy, so as to "get off this never-ending merry-go-round of hurt and hate." With the help of a few friends, and through sheer tenacity and creativity, the Zhangs begin to realize that they are, in fact, building a place they can call home. Gabi K. Huesca

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 24, 2023

Gr 5 Up-Kuo's debut verse novel is an autobiographically inspired, familiar immigration story, perceptively enhanced by polyglot Siu's fluency in Cantonese. In Taiwan, she was always Ai Shi-her name starts with "love"-but at birth, Ba also gave her an aspirational American moniker, Anna: "That's how long I've hoped/ for the beautiful country," what the Chinese call America. In September 1980, Ba, Ma, and 10-year-old Anna are living in Los Angeles County, their new life rife with daily challenges. Ma and Ba run a fast food restaurant with limited English and few customers. Anna faces constant racist bullying as the only Asian student in her class. And yet neighborhood allies and new friends sway the family to stay. The upcoming Land of Broken Promises continues Anna's story. VERDICT Siu's soft, consistent delivery is a soothing balm even in the most uncomfortable moments; new immigrants seeking their stories in books will discover empathic resonance here.-Terry Hong

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2022
At the start of this emotional novel in verse full of vivid imagery, ten-year-old Ai Shi Zhang and her parents leave Taiwan for the suburbs of Los Angeles. Money is tight after a business deal goes wrong and the family restaurant is repeatedly vandalized, and the Zhang family considers giving up and moving back. Ai Shi is forced to grow up quickly, code-switching and translating for her parents, all while suffering bullying at school and grappling with her new reality and shifts in identity. Kuo conveys the life of a new immigrant, including constant commentary from others on their differing appearances, clothing, and foods. In the end, Ai Shi learns to approach others, even her bullies, with a sense of generosity and empathy, so as to "get off this never-ending merry-go-round of hurt and hate." With the help of a few friends, and through sheer tenacity and creativity, the Zhangs begin to realize that they are, in fact, building a place they can call home.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)