This one scrolled by in one of Amazon's suggested lists and I was intrigued. Thankfully, we've come a long way since I was growing up and even from just a few years back, but some small part of me is still shocked and excited when I see a middle grade book featuring a non-white protagonist. I ordered this and the sequel yesterday, got them today, and devoured this.
Keiko is dealing with your typical seventh grade issues: friend drama, first crushes and their drama, family issues. Her biggest problem is that she doesn't like conflict and puts it all on her to fix everything.
Keiko has two best friends. Headstrong, selfish Audrey is one of the four main white characters in the book. The cast is a pretty balanced mix of East Asian and white. Keiko herself is half-Japanese (her mom) and half-white (her dad). Studious, serious, slightly edgy Jenna is Japanese-American. Jenna was in Texas with her father all summer because her parents recently got divorced, so Audrey and Keiko were a twosome. The trio eventually stopped texting but Keiko is hoping now that Jenna is back home, things will return to normal.
However, problems start pretty quickly. Keiko typically picks a theme for the year. She's chosen Experiences and her idea is that each girl picks a different afterschool activity and all three have to join. Probably didn't quite think this through, Keiko. Three activities is a lot. But Audrey has her own idea and has decided the girls need to get boyfriends before the Fall Ball. They compromise and decide to do both, but immediately problems begin when Jenna joins the newspaper club and the other two don't want to, while Audrey is on the Fall Ball committee and again, the other two don't want to. I don't think Keiko ever even voiced what she might have wanted to do and ends up doing nothing.
The next issue is that the boy Audrey has decided is going to be her Fall Ball date has been texting Jenna for a couple weeks. Jenna had no idea Audrey liked this guy until the trio got together after she returned from Texas. Jenna tells Keiko but is hesitant to tell Audrey because she knows it will be horrible. Keiko feels stuck in the middle keeping a secret. It eventually all comes out and Audrey blows up. She tells Jenna to give up Elliot, which Jenna rightly refuses to do. Audrey forces Jenna to choose between her and Elliot and Jenna smartly decides to leave. Keiko stays and ends up sleeping in Audrey's older brother's room.
A quick aside about Conner. All we've seen of Conner and his two friends so far is them making fun of the girls for still being fairly flat-chested (eighth grade boys...ugh) and one of them has a racist joke that's ridiculous. So it's pretty surprising when over the next chapter or so, we learn that Keiko used to be very close to Conner. So close that Audrey did what apparently Audrey does best. She forced Keiko to choose between the two of them and Keiko chose Audrey, which is what led to Conner being so mean. Keiko and Conner, who came home early when he was supposed to be gone and found her in his room, make up and start being friends again, which Audrey flips out about.
Now Keiko has a crush on a new boy named Gregor. Audrey initially was trying to help Keiko get with him but then decides she's going to be an awful person and starts dating him herself. Keiko is angry. She's also angry that Audrey keeps being mad that she's friends with Conner again.
Sadly, we barely see Jenna, who's happily with Elliot, during the middle part of the story. Conner takes her place as the intelligent, wise, supportive friend. Keiko begins hanging out with him and his two friends and finds she has a lot of fun. Both Conner and Keiko are really into dogs and he helps her adopt one.
Keiko's family drama is that her mother took a new promotion with a museum and she's working on writing a grant. This is apparently so intensive that she barely sees her family and it's taking its toll on them. Keiko and her dad both try to tell the mother this, but she really doesn't listen well or even try to understand. She's a very hard character to like, although things do work out well in the end. The grant-writing is done and she's back to her normal schedule. She also realizes she was wrong in not explaining better some of the places she went to (out to dinner all the time, a bar, a spa) that sounded like she was having fun and avoiding being with her family at the same time.
Eventually, Keiko learns that Gregor has dumped Audrey. Gregor, by the way, is someone Keiko never should have had a crush on because it was immediately apparent that he was casually racist. Keiko confronts Gregor and tells him off in such a spectacular way that Jenna, who was there, is very impressed. Then Keiko confronts Audrey only to have Audrey once again try to separate her and Conner. Conner ends up mad at Keiko because he thinks she likes Gregor when she's already agreed to go to the dance with him. Keiko finally tells Audrey she won't give up being Conner's friend and Audrey goes off on her like the asshole she is. Keiko makes up with Conner and they end the book agreeing to be a couple and having a couple cute kisses.
Keiko is a pretty likeable character, even though she's obviously frustrating because of what she puts on herself. She's obsessed with chocolate, which is fun. It's very clear from the beginning that Audrey is a horrible friend, so it's hard to see Keiko deal with her and her infinite jealousy and control issues. I'm really hoping the author will not write a book about her. I skimmed the sequel, which features Jenna, and I don't think I saw much of her name, so I doubt they ever make up and that is fine by me. Audrey sucks. Oh, and if you have an issue with dog abuse, be prepared to really dislike Audrey. It's not much but she yells at her brother's dog a lot and I think hits him with a rolled up placemat once, which causes Keiko to seriously bitch her out. It comes out near the end that she's afraid of dogs but that is zero excuse to be abusive to them. Jenna is the character I liked the most, even though we don't see too much of her. I'm glad she's getting her own book. And Conner is pretty great once he stops the childish behavior and makes up with Keiko.
It's a solid middle grade book and it's so nice to have a non-white protagonist. I love how this has been improving over the years. If anyone has any similar books they'd like to recommend, feel free!
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