I received an e-galley of Finally Seen by Kelly Yang from Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Kelly Yang’s middle grade books - Front Desk, Three Keys, Room to Dream, Key Player, and New From Here. And while Kelly Yang is an automatic-read author for middle grade fiction, I am in awe again by the emotional power that is behind her stories. I honestly didn’t think that Kelly Yang could do write a book that I would love more than Front Desk - and I was so wrong. Finally Seen is my absolute new favourite middle grade novel written by her - and I just have so much love for Lina Gao, the main character in this story. Don’t worry, Mia Tang, I still adore you.

Finally Seen is about Lina, a young girl from China who has been waiting to be reunited with her parents and little sister for five years. Her parents had taken Millie with them when they first went to America to start a new life - while Lina waited patiently in China with her grandparents. While she loves her grandparents, she misses her parents terribly and wants to join them in their perfect life in America. Finally, she is able to fly over to the States - she’s ecstatic about the reunion but also heartbroken about leaving behind her grandmother, who moves into a nursing home. In America, life is not quite what Lina’s parents had written and told her about. The beautiful two-story home is actually a little apartment. Her parents are not quite working in careers that they had mentioned. And Millie, Lina’s younger sister is able to fluently communicate in both English and Mandarin. Lina’s confidence in her own abilities to speak and communicate slowly deplete especially when she starts school and some of her peers are not too kind when Lina speaks - and errs - in English. This story is about Lina’s life as she tries to find her role in the family,  as she makes friends who will help and understand her, and as she realizes that her voice is important in both the literature and community that she is part of. 

In the story, Lina finds refuge in the school library where she learns that books can be mirrors and sliding doors. For me, Finally Seen definitely felt like both a window and a sliding door. As an ELL teacher, I see so many of my students in Lina. Those who were left behind or sent to China for a few years before reuniting with their parents. The struggles, challenges, joys, and desires my students face when it comes to learning English, making friends, and adjusting to life in Canada. It made me feel seen when Lina’s ELL teacher, Mrs. Ortiz, is a teacher that Lina is able to connect to, learn from, and confide in. It makes me want to work harder to be that sort of teacher for my own students. I cannot wait for my students to discover Finally Seen - to see their stories reflected in Lina’s. And I also really want all the students who are not ELLs to read this story - as a way for it to be a sliding door for them to better understand their peers who may share similar stories and experiences as Lina.

Lina finds and reads books that she is able to then share with her new friends in this story. When she shares a particular meaningful book with her teacher, Mrs. Carter chooses it as the next read aloud for the class. But soon, a parent attempts to have it banned because she claims that it’s not relateable or appropriate. This discussion and story development of banning books is unfortunately a real issue that continues to exist in schools today. I love that Kelly Yang incorporates it into this story as Lina must also make decisions about how to use her voice to fight for her love of books that make her feel seen.