Divided into three sections, each section provides a first-person perspective, a snapshot- in- time of three children of a Chinese-Canadian family. The first section- of the only girl child in the family - is the weakest, reading like an after- thought. Rquested as an add-on by editors, perhaps, to boost the book's female representation? The writing doesn't flow, and the character and her thoughts feel underdeveloped and unrelatable (having been an 8-year old girl myself once). Perhaps the author just isn't as practiced at writing from the female perspective?

The rumours are true - this is a book where nothing much happens. In the second and third sections, this is not a negative. Sometimes you need a book that ambles along slowly, with little gems of information here and there that reveal facts and observations about a culture you know very little about. But this is not so of the first section, where the book is most at danger of losing readers. Regardless, do persevere, because the other two sections- about two boys in the family, are much better written, their thoughts and character much more well-developed, even poignant.

The third also features a female character, who reads like a romanticized version of a female character. There aren't too many roles afforded females here, beyond love, or in the case of the little girl, dance and pretty clothes. Unhappy events befall the female character, but as the narrator is a young lad of 8, it's significance is lost on him, and it's for the reader to read between the lines.

As a look into early Canadian history of Chinese immigrants, I would recommend this book. It's not exciting, and it can move at a snail's pace but the writing is tight, descriptions of scenes are colourful, and characters, for the most part, are memorable.