Slant

September 29, 2008
Mirroring themes found in An Na's recent Fold
but geared for a younger audience, this timely novel also revolves around a Korean-American heroine who considers plastic surgery in an effort to look more American. Tired of being called “Slant,” 13-year-old Lauren—the adopted daughter of white parents—dreams of having surgery that will make her eyes appear rounder. But after scheduling the operation, Lauren has second thoughts. Using first-person narrative, Williams (Behind the Bedroom Wall
) pointedly conveys how Lauren's observations are linked to her changing attitude. First Lauren begins to notice that all her classmates —even the popular kids—have flaws (“Even cheerleader Sandy has thick ankles,” Lauren notes after Sandy points out that one of Lauren's tormentors has a “big Jew nose”). Later, she comes to realize that outer beauty does not ensure happiness, an idea melodramatically illustrated in a scene in which Lauren discovers that her mother, dead for three years, died of suicide and not in an accident. Although the moral is transparent and the outcome predictable, readers will relate to the vulnerable heroine and her struggle. Ages 8–13.

December 1, 2008
Gr 4-7-Petite Lauren, an eighth grader and Korean-American adoptee, is best friends with tall, blond Julie. While Julie is brimming with self-confidence, Lauren is plagued by a multitude of insecurities. Although she adores her father, a literature professor, she resents his refusal to talk about her mother, who died several years earlier. Eventually, she learns that he has been shielding her from the fact that her mother's depression led her to suicide. Williams invests Lauren with a disarming self-awareness as she analyzes and categorizes her own behavior using terms her father has taught her. When she pretends not to be appalled by her insensitive classmates calling her "slant," "chink," and "gook," she labels her behavior a "sin of complicity." Lauren seems comfortable with her ethnicity in many ways, but she has been squirreling money away for an operation to reduce the creases in her eyelids and is elated when her father reluctantly consents to the procedure. Julie emerges as a strong sidekick, cajoling Lauren to stand up for herself and telling stereotype-spewing kids to quit their offensive behavior. Other offensive ethnic putdowns, such as "kike," are used. Despite her many strengths, Julie obsesses about her weight and is embarrassed by her wealthy parents' ostentatiousness. The characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the friendship between Julie and Lauren is not only believable, featuring humor, conflict, and true wit, but also captures both girls' gains in maturity."Deborah Vose, Highlands Elementary School, Braintree, MA"

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