“Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet”

 

by Sherri L. Smith

c.2008, Delacorte Press • $15.99 / $20.99 Canada • 167 pages

 

Sometime in the next few weeks, you’re going to have one very important day that you want to be absolutely perfect.

Maybe it’s a birthday party, a trip with friends or a special date.  You’ve envisioned how it’s going to be and you’ve planned everything almost down to the minute.

And everything that can go wrong, will.

In the new book “Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet” by Sherri L. Smith, the best-laid plans of rice and (chow) mein go drastically wrong in Ana Shen’s house.  And it’s all her family’s fault.

The day was supposed to be so perfect. Ana Mei Shen would give her salutatorian’s speech and graduate from eighth-grade.  She would walk off the stage with Jamie Tabata, the cutest boy in the school. He would put his arms around Ana and ask her to the graduation dance. That night, when they slow-danced (but not too slow) he might actually kiss her.

Those plans literally exploded when the water main at the school broke, sending a geyser of water everywhere. The dance was cancelled and everything was ruined: Ana’s dress, her graduation gown, and her best-laid plans.

 

But that didn’t stop Ana’s best friend, Chelsea, from opening her big mouth.  Knowing that Ana’s family was planning a small dinner, Chelsea invited Jamie and his family to Ana’s house that evening.  That could be an even bigger disaster.

Whenever Ana’s grandparents were all in the same room, it seemed that nobody could get along.  Nei Nei, Ana’s Chinese grandmother, was bossy.  Ye Ye, Ana’s grandfather, was always grumpy. Ana’s mother’s parents, Grandpa and Grandma White, were cool and Grandma made the best soul food in the world, but she was always asking personal questions.

As Ana’s party comes together and her Chinese American grandparents compete with her African American grandparents for Who Gives the Best Graduation Gift, everything just gets more complicated.  When Jamie shows up with the beautifully blonde Mandy Conrad, it just gets worse. Can Ana see that her “marvelously biracial, multicultural family” is more than just a multicultural mess?

 

Remember being a tweenager?  That’s someone who’s firmly in between childhood and growing up, and it’s a hard place to be.  Author Sherri L. Smith obviously remembers what it’s like, because her Ana Shen is a likeable, realistic girl in an impossible, realistic situation with which tweens definitely can identify.

I loved the way “Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet” unfolded – the entire story takes place in a short 12-hour span of time – and I was surprised to see that when I thought I knew what was going to happen (and I was prepared to roll my eyes), I was wrong.  There are parts that made me laugh and parts that made me remember exactly what it’s like to be caught up in family drama that you never asked to have.

If you’ve got a 10-to 14-year-old girl in your life – especially one who seems nonplussed by her unique family – pick up a copy.  For her, “Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet” is a tasty little book.