Mona in the Promised Land

better ipad book than expected. story of chinese-american family's attitudes toward american culture. younger daughter's conversion to Judaism is portrayed somewhat extremely, but also tenderly. many family expriences are universal and also very touching. many characters lose their third dimension to prove the author's points, but they are easy to accept. jen's word usage and thoughtful metaphors added much to the writing.

Loved the premise of a young 2nd generation Chinese teen converting to Judaism. I really liked Mona, the main character, and her relationship with her sister. I could practically see her eyes rolling at her mother's conversations and advice.

But partway through, I have lost interest. Maybe it's me, but I am not attached to finishing this book.

Important note: Read Jen's first novel FIRST, and then the end of Mona won't seem too slapdash and tacked-on, too easy. You really need the context of the first novel to get the full impact of that one.

That said, the characters are great individuals, individually lovable and frustrating and exasperating-- in other words, they're people. And they're teenagers in the 1960s, with racial tension stretching from China and Japan's conflict to black and white clashes. Protestant and Jewish clashes. And in all of this, Jen maintains a high level of downright hilarity. She's a wonderful writer, and this is one book you won't want to return to the library.

This book was on the Next Book list of books in their "Let's Talk About it Series" - Neighbors - the World Next Door. This series was done in our library and I can say that this book was not one that I would have picked up to read on my own. However, I enjoyed it. It is about a Chinese American girl whose immigrant parents own a chinese food restaurant and live in upper class Westchester New York. To her parents dismay she grows up utterly un-chinese and worst of all decides to convert to Judaism. The theme here is assimilation and how the children of immigrants become neither their parents culture or the culture in which they live but something else. How these children make peace with who they are is the story. This book did not get show more great reviews, and there were some problems with the writing that better editing could have cured, but my discussion group liked it and it gave us plenty of food for thought. show less

This book is the second about this family. You really need to read the first book about Mona's parents, immigrants from China, to understand where Mona is coming from at times (Typical American is the name of the first book). The book is about a first generation American Born Chinese girl and her teenage years. I love that she decides she is Jewish and converts. An interesting look at being a minority and learning to adapt and finding your place in the world.

Pretty funny with some very sharp writing. Tedious subplot about cook and his black power friends. Final conflict between Mona and her mother seems to come out nowhere, but nice bittersweet resolution.

Cute story premise--the young Chinese-American in the the sixties who decides to become a Jew, but the story rapidly loses its focus and momentum. Short episodes fill out the book from about the half-way point, and the ending was seriously disappointing in trying to explain every story line.