Middle-Grade Review: Finally Seen by Kelly Yang

Lina Gao has been raised by her grandmother (Lao Lao) in China while her parents establish their life in Southern California. It’s hard to leave, but she’s glad to finally be together with her family, including younger sister Millie. It’s even harder to know that Lao Lao is now living in a nursing home. Things are different than she expects them to be in the US: her parents are in an apartment instead of a house, they are facing financial difficulties, and her classmates are mean to her and dismissive of her abilities to speak English. Her father is working at an organic farm run by Pete, a cranky white man instead of being a microbiologist, and her mother is making bath bombs and selling them on Etsy because she doesn’t have a work permit. The family is working on their immigration application, but since Pete’s lawyer is handling them, they don’t know what the progress is. Both Millie and Lina have open enrolled to a school in Pete’s neighborhood in order to get a better education, and they are warned to stay invisible and not cause trouble so they don’t get kicked out. Lina’s teachers are all supportive and helpful. Ms. Carter, her main teacher, encourages her reading and has Finn, one of the nicer boys in class, help her. Ms. Ortiz, the ELL teacher, works one on one with her and reminds Lina that she herself didn’t speak English when she came to the US from Guatemala. The librarian, Ms. Hollins, gives Lina a book, the made up Flea Shop by Cat Wang, about a girl whose parents run a second hand store. Graphic novels are a great way for Lina to improve her skills and enjoy reading, but the one she loves best faces challenges. The meanest girl in her class, Jessica, has a mother who is very controlling and is also active in the PTO. She also is “tired” of inclusion and diversity, and when she finds out that white children are mean to the main character in Flea Shop, she tries to have the book banned! Lina’s father has problems with Pete, and Lina’s mother’s bath bomb business doesn’t look like it will make enough money for the family to pay their back rent once the COVID era rent forgiveness ends. Will Lina be able to navigate these difficult times with the help of her family?