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KLIATT

To quote KLIATT's March 2000 review of the hardcover edition: In the eyes of the Tower High School community, popular student Laura Li appears to be perfect. Most of her peers see her as bright, kind, and beautiful, and she is desired by the boys and envied by the girls. She works in the school library, where the librarian treats her like a daughter, and she cooks and cares for her crippled, sickly elder brother at home, as a dutiful Chinese daughter is expected to do. But Laura is deeply unhappy, and resentful of the pressures her family puts on her to do well at school and to be responsible for her brother. Laura is not allowed to date, but she sneaks out at night to dance, drink, and flirt at clubs. She rarely sees her father, and her mother beats her when she asks to go to the prom, angry at her American ways—but ironically, when Laura submits an outstanding essay to an American Legion contest, the prize is denied her because she is not an American citizen. Frustrated by her "broken dreams," feeling trapped by family rules and expectations, Laura Li commits suicide in the library at school, shocking everyone. Her story is told through a series of one or two-page blank verse poems by various people who knew her (or thought they knew her)—other students, the school librarian, family members—as well as by Laura herself. The reader must piece together Laura's life from these varying views. In the process readers learn something about the writers of the poems, too, and the ways in which people can be different from their images. Glenn's trademark style of telling a poignant tale through poetry and multiple viewpoints, as in his Foreign Exchange (reviewed in KLIATT in May 1999), isunusual and effective; English teachers may want to suggest it as a technique for their students to try. This is a quick and engaging read, and a good pick for reluctant readers, too. An ALA Best Book for YAs. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2000, HarperTempest, 154p.,
— Paula Rohrlick

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

In this unique book, the narrative is drawn through a series of poems. The verses revolve around a high school student named Laura Li. The Lis are a Chinese immigrant family trying to live the American dream. The dream seems more like a nightmare to Laura Li. She is not allowed to go away to college because she is needed at home to help take care of her invalid older brother. Laura's father, whom she adores, is away on business almost all the time. Some of Laura's fellow students at Tower High School think she is wonderful; others hate her. More than a few are in love with her. The poems are related through more than a dozen characters, including Laura and her family, as well as students and faculty, each of whom speaks with a distinctive voice. Laura's problems take a startling and tragic turn when her mother forbids her to attend the senior prom. The last third of the book reads like a script to an action film, including verses by firefighters and other emergency personnel. 2000, HarperCollins, Ages 12 up, $15.95. Reviewer: Christopher Moning

VOYA

As in Glenn's previous eleven novels, beginning with Class Dismissed: High School Poems (Clarion, 1982/VOYA August 1982), this sad and disturbing story is told through poems representing the voices of students and adults associated with Tower High and its library. Protagonist Laura Li is faced with an absentee father, a traditional and harsh Chinese mother who dislikes American ways, and a disabled brother whom she must nurse. She is desperately unhappy, but as a library aide, her classmates view her as popular, friendly, and strait-laced. Soon readers learn of Laura's secret life—she sneaks out evenings to barhop, meet unsavory men, and enter the drug scene. Laura's story ends sadly, and although her acquaintances express surprise, readers should foresee the ending. Glenn's characters are realistic, with poignant and interesting personal stories, ably demonstrating how and why reading is absent—or present—in their lives. As their voices tend to talk to rather than about Laura, readers do not gain full insight into her character or popularity. Often Laura's comments are complaints or expressions of resignation, without demonstrating reflection or planning for change, sometimes making her unsympathetic. Nevertheless this novel will be an enjoyable read for any middle and lower high school student. It certainly provides pause to the reader about the status of reading and literacy among adolescents. The point of finding one's own identity and having the freedom to do so is important to these students, and this book would be exceptionally valuable regarding this subject. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal;Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, HarperCollins, 159p, $15.95. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Lisa Spiegel

SOURCE: VOYA, October 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 4)

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-This novel is about stereotypes, misconceptions, and public vs. private personas. The central figure is Laura Li, an immigrant from China whose life revolves around Tower High School and her family responsibilities. Her businessman father is never around and, in speaking to her mother, the girl says, "-Mother, I will do anything you ask,/To prove that a second-born/Can take first place in your heart." She wonders where to turn for an identity, a purpose. In another selection, she states, "I think God has an answering machine./He's never home, though,-./In the meantime, I wonder,/Does He ever check His messages?" The poems and dialogue exchanges, many of which take place in the library, provide glimpses of classmates, faculty, and family, and all offer insights into Laura Li's life, as well as the life the others think she leads. The action is easy to follow, and although there are too many characters for any of them to be developed in much depth, their entries help to flesh out the story line. The narrative shifts gears several times, and readers may be caught off guard by the teen's suicide. A powerful look at perceptions and what lies behind them.-Sharon Korbeck, Waupaca Area Public Library, WI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Kirkus Reviews

Glenn (Foreign Exchange, 1999, etc.) returns to his favorite setting, turbulent Tower High, for more teen melodrama cast in short, mostly free verse, poems. Here readers meet Laura Li, a bright, beautiful, popular library monitor whose outward perfection masks inward fury, shame and hurt: because her businessman father is seldom home; because she's looking at a lifetime of caring for her disabled older brother; because her mother, whose heart is still back in China, heaps her with verbal and physical abuse at any sign of willfulness. Glenn develops Laura's character, then traces her rebellion from furtive beginnings to eventual suicide, indirectly, in a series of thoughts, comments, reactions and snatches of dialogue delivered by dozens of schoolmates and adults. His view of the adolescent landscape (and the adult one, too) is bleak, unrelieved by flat efforts to lighten the tone with concrete poems labeled `Library Fun`; still, there are occasional flickers of optimism in the simmering mix of confusion, anger and despair, and readers will find echoes in their own lives of many of the voices and attitudes here. Deeply felt, if not particularly profound. (Fiction. YA)