Going Geek

July 15, 2016
An amiable yet insufferably class-obsessed LA teen copes with her family's fall from wealth.Skylar Hoffman waits tables at the same exclusive beach club she used to belong to because her parents' incomes steadily dwindle. Her filmmaker mother, Lisa Chen, produced one teen blockbuster and hasn't had another commercial success since; her father's work as a graphic designer was "never that busy to begin with." Huang spares readers the poverty porn of Skylar's family coping with their downsized fortunes in such a wealth- and image-obsessed place as LA. Instead, she makes Skylar's struggle with this new normal the story's ongoing metaphor as she lies by omission and commission about her circumstances to her New England old-money classmates at tony Winthrop Academy, a boarding school near Boston, and the subsequent repercussions. In the process, Skylar, who might be mixed-race Asian-American judging by her parents' names, also challenges the model-minority stereotypes of the financially comfortable and academically excellent Asians. However, in taking on these negative images, the author tends to not indicate characters of color except for hints in their names, like boyfriend Leo Diaz--a few noted exceptions being ambiguous physical descriptions of Skylar's guidance counselor, Ms. Randall, and dorm mate Raksmey, along with fellow students C.J., who comes from mainland China, and Yasmin, from United Arab Emirates. A smart look at class that's undercut by its deemphasis of race. (Fiction. 12-16)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-A coming-of-age story set against the socially cutthroat backdrop of a preppy East Coast boarding school. Readers do not need to be familiar with boarding schools, or even private school life, to relate to the intense social pressure that Huang's main character, Skylar, faces. Skylar's plans for an epic senior year (perfect boyfriend, cool friends, and high-status accommodations) are turned upside down when her movie-making mother is unable to produce a sequel to her blockbuster, which defined a generation of teenagers. Not only does this failure mean that Skylar must sacrifice her pampered way of life but it also shakes the fragile identity that she has created around the movie's success. The teen tries to hide her struggle, but her friends abandon her once her deception is revealed. Skylar must make a new life for herself with the social castoffs and misfits that she had always overlooked. In the protagonist, the author crafts a character who learns to trust her own abilities and judgment, breaking her proclivity to find her identity in the success of others. The straightforward and fast-paced writing style is unencumbered by excessive description but can come off a little shallow at times. This is a good pick for struggling or reluctant readers, especially those who gravitate to realistic fiction with a quickly moving plot. VERDICT Recommended as an additional purchase.-Rose Garrett, Cliff Valley School, Atlanta, GA

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