Ali Chu has been the only Taiwanese-American at her Indiana school for so long, the arrival of another Asian student, Chase Yu, immediately sets off multiple chain events. Ali has been giving a lot of her friends a pass over the years, but her Asian side wants to be known too and Chase's open reaction to the quiet (sometimes clueless) but nevertheless racism hits home. Ali's parents are disconnected with each other after the move to land locked Indiana years earlier, and her relationship with them seems even more strained than the usual teen/parent one. When her mother (who previously said she could only date Chinese boys--since there weren't any!) puts her foot down about not seeing Chase either, Ali begins to wonder more about what her mother is hiding. Sprinkled between the present day chapters is the story of the butterfly lovers, a popular Chinese folk tale that is slightly attributed to Ali's ancestors. I liked the way the story flowed, how Ali and Chase confronted their classmates and faculty about preconceived notions and slights about Asians and how Ali persevered in finding her own fate. ( )