After a lifetime of eating Spaghetti-Os, watching The Brady Bunch, and listening to cheezy '80s music, 25-year-old Lindsey Owyang is a thoroughly modern third-generation ABC (American-born Chinese). In an effort to save money and placate her family, Lindsey lives with her tiny, mah-jongg-gambling grandmother, Pau Pau, who dispenses fashion advice, blind dates, and "stinky tiger balm." Like most young urban professional women, Lindsey agonizes over her body (she has one malformed toe, preventing her from wearing sandals), men (she avoids guys with "Asian girl fetishes"), and work (she's one of the secret meat-eaters at Vegan Warrior magazine). When her family insists Lindsey accompany Pau Pau on a nostalgic trip to China, she develops an appreciation for her roots and discovers a family secret. Bridget Jones meets The Joy Luck Club in this multicultural twist on the single-gal-in-the-city subgenre of fiction. Believable characters in realistically outlandish situations raise this book a few notches above standard chick-lit fare.
By Kim Wong Keltner, Paperback, 352 Pages, 8.0" x 5.4"
