"Decades ago, when I didn't feel like I belonged anywhere, ten-year-old me promised myself that I would one day write a book. A middle grade book about belonging everywhere."
Few of us follow through on our promises to our preteen selves. Fortunately Justina Chen did. Her With Twice the Love, Dessie Mei is a thoroughly engaging narrative that touches on relevant social justice issues at an age appropriate level.
Dessie is not a happy camper. She and her parents have moved in with her widowed grandmother, an Alzheimers victim. They're preparing her for an eventual move to an assisted living facility. Her twin brothers, high school seniors have been allowed to stay in their home to graduate 🎓 with their classmates. Changing schools in the middle of sixth grade, she's sure everyone already has their friend groups.
On her first day in her new school Dessie meets a girl, Donna, who looks just like her. When they discover that they share a birthday and were adopted from the same orphanage they realize that they might be twins. DNA tests prove that they're right. The girls are delighted.
But it's not all smooth sailing. Dessie, who has been raised in a white family, realizes how little she knows about her culture. Donna's strict, traditional grandmother fears Dessie will be a bad influence on Donna while Dessie's mother fears that she will like the other family more.
And the outside world offers up its own complications. Donna's grandmother becomes the victim of a vicious hate crime. Both girls' favorite group puts out a song with racist language.
A second marriage gave Chen two Chinese step daughters who were adopted into a white family. She's intimately familiar with the "delights and challenges" of culture blending. And she fears for their future in a country that increasingly others Asian Americans. Her concerns were the seed from which this fine book grew. "So I did what I always do when my heart grows furious: I wrote. What burst out of me is this love letter for my stepdaughters and all young people who are discovering their roots and their heritage, yes. But also their voices."
On a purrrsonal note, today I was ambushed by joy. It was so sunny 🌞 and warm I got to read 📚 outside for two hours. Not what you expect in Maine in January!
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who enjoyed his weekend 🧊 fishing 🎣 with his best friend and (more importantly) came home safe.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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