Girl Overboard

December 10, 2007
Adding to a category overrun with poor-little-rich-girl plotlines, Headley (Nothing But the Truth
) crafts a tale that will stand out in the crowd by offering a good dose of girl power and an intriguing family backstory. Fifteen-year-old Syrah Cheng, daughter of a billionaire mobile phone magnate, has blown out her knee after a snowboarding accident and can no longer hit the slopes. She still feels shattered by the realization that her would-be boyfriend was only after her father’s money, and is too afraid to reciprocate her best friend’s overtures toward another kind of relationship (“Why chance turning Age into a here-today-gone-tomorrow boyfriend?”). Add to that two absentee parents and a pair of adult half-siblings who hate her guts, and Syrah, the narrator, is sinking into a full-on pity party, finding respite only in her manga journal. But even when Syrah complains, the tone stays tart, conveying a tough-girl personality that leaves room for vulnerability. As the novel shifts from Syrah’s self-pity to her self-critique, its scope grows more interesting, especially when Syrah learns more about her family. The outsize scale of the family fortune and prestige, combined with the gratifying empowerment theme, will attract (and hold) Meg Cabot fans. Ages 12-up.

February 1, 2008
Gr 9 Up-Syrah Cheng's struggle to fit into the stylish dress her mother bought for her to wear to her father's 70th birthday bash is synonymous with her struggle to fit in with her family in general. The teenage daughter of business tycoon Ethan Cheng and his second wife, Syrah is scorned by her older half siblings, and she would rather spend her spare time snowboarding or drawing manga than shopping for fancy clothes and attending benefits with her family. However, since an accident damaged her chances for a pro snowboarding career, she is not sure that she fits in with her snowboarding friends, either. At loose ends when she discovers that a friend's young sister is seriously ill with leukemia, she rallies to put together a benefit to raise money for the family. For once, the Cheng name is an asset, and Syrah finds herself connecting with her half sister and reconnecting with her mother. Although Headley's novel is slow to start, once it picks up steam, the narrative becomes rich. An overheard conversation leads Syrah to investigate her mother's history and leads her to a new understanding of the woman who was given away by her mother during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and raised by an abusive aunt. Like Amy Tan, Headley incorporates intergenerational and intercultural conflict into a novel of personal growth and self-discovery."Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2008
From the moment that snowboarding became as natural as walking, 15-year-old Syrah Cheng has wanted to be a professional rider. But after she narrowly survives an avalanche, her parents bar her from the sport. Syrah misses the anonymity and escape she found on the slopes. As the daughter of a billionaire cell-phone magnate, she feels misunderstood in public and abandoned at home by her workaholic, absentee parents, and her isolation intensifies after her only close friend, Age, stops returning her calls. Then Syrah develops a close friendship with fellow-student Lillian, whose sister is dying of cancer. A project to help Lillians family becomes the energizing force that pulls Syrah toward new discoveries about her ownfamily, cultural heritage, and strengths. Writing in Syrahs witty, engaging voice, Headley offers a stirring, layered novel about a Chinese American girl who rejects the false glitter of her superrich Seattle community and resolves to use her advantages to create large-scale change and relationships that are deep and true.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2008
Syrah, who loves snowboarding and graphic novels, feels alienated from her ultra-rich Chinese American family. Initially readers may balk--justifiably--at her poor-little-rich-girl laments. Eventually, however, with her new understanding of China's Cultural Revolution, the unexpected support of her much older half sister, and the decision to use her clout to help others, Syrah becomes a sympathetic character.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)