My Other Heart: A Novel

In 1998, Mimi was at the airport waiting for her return flight to Vietnam after a difficult time in America that left her alone with her 14-month-old daughter. When her daughter disappears prior to their flight, the language barrier and other obstacles result in her deportation back to Vietnam without her child. Seventeen years later, we meet Kit and Sabrina, friends who bonded in childhood as Asian Americans in the lily-white neighborhood of Philadelphia. As they graduate from high school, both girls struggle to find themselves, and they pursue different ways to move forward — Kit travels to Japan while Sabrina stays and works at an Asian American legal aid office. My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner explores themes of belonging, show more immigration, and young love as it follows all of these characters through the summer. Strenner tells a good story and keeps all the plotlines moving well, but maybe a few fewer threads would have allowed for more development among the main characters. Her dialogue needs work, and the book feels very YA, but readers looking for an emotional coming-of-age novel about mothers and daughters, friendship, and belonging will enjoy My Other Heart. show less