Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
September 1, 2019/in Fiction 14+ Secondary/Adult /by Ellie
BfK Rating:
BfK 238 September 2019
Reviewer: Nicholas Tucker
ISBN: 978-1783448395
Price: £7.99
Publisher: Andersen Press
Genre: Fiction
Age Range: 14+ Secondary/Adult
Length: 384pp
Buy the Book

Chinglish

Author: Sue Cheung

This novel written in diary form starts when its narrator Jo Kwan is 13. It finishes three years later. Jo comes from Hong Kong but now lives in Coventry. She has a tough life, helping out in the family Takeaway run by her unstable, sometimes violent father and her long-suffering mother who has never learned proper English while Jo has never learned enough Cantonese to talk back to her. Short for her age she is also picked on by bullies at school.

So far so miserable? Not a bit of it. Jo is also wonderfully resilient, seeing off recurrent crises with the acid humour also found in her comic line drawings breaking out on every other page. Largely autobiographical, this story does not spare her uncomprehending and uncaring family whose only interest is to run the business and make as much profit as possible. There are no birthday or Christmas presents for her or her younger sister, nor for the older brother who now lives with his grandparents.

But Jo has a real talent for drawing and against the odds finally wins a scholarship to the London College of Fashion – just as the author once did herself. She also has a best friend Tina, who helps her during some of the worst moments. But her real saviour is her determination to come through to her ambitions despite huge family pressure pushing her back into a life she is intent on escaping. She still dwells on ordinary adolescent concerns like clothes, hairstyles and boyfriends while working behind the family counter sometimes up to thirty hours a week on top of school days. Somehow she manages to remain excellent company, with a talent for black humour that makes this exceptional book a real pleasure to read. Misery memoir it is not, although there are sad moments. This is a novel that deserves to be read by anybody from teenage onwards – it is that good.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Ellie http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Ellie2019-09-01 21:41:032021-03-17 21:42:25Chinglish

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

BfK 254 May 2022 Download BfK Issue BfK 254 May 2022
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Peter Bently and Steven Lenton named winners of The Children’s Book Award 2022

June 27, 2022

Shortlist for the 2022 SLA Information Book Award

June 23, 2022

2022 Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Winners Announced

June 16, 2022

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2022 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
I Hold Your Heart Charcoal Boys
Scroll to top