Ten-year-old Lina emigrates from China to join her family in America after a five-year separation in the heartfelt middle-grade novel Finally Seen by Kelly Yang (Parachutes).
Lina Gao is not sure why, at five years old, she was left behind in China with her grandparents when her parents and baby sister moved to the U.S. Five years later, the Chinese-speaking Lina is now joining her family, but nothing is quite as she expected: her dad's a farmer, not a scientist, and the nail salon where Mom worked closed down so she started selling homemade bath bombs on Etsy. Perhaps most concerning is that the house Mom said they lived in is actually an apartment and something called the "rent moratorium" is coming to an end. As one neighbor puts it, "If you can't pay up, they gonna evict you." Lina encounters more uncomfortable surprises and frustrations when she begins school, where she works to learn English. When a teacher introduces her to graphic novels, Lina finally finds a way to communicate with the world around her.
Yang's earnest, heartfelt novel approaches immigration and family from a contemporary point of view, including the pains and injustices felt by many during the pandemic. Her characters are a strong point of the book and, as Lina gets to know each multifaceted individual, she becomes a part of the community. Finally Seen is, as Lina would say, "a sliding door" into a world many have never experienced and "a mirror" for those who have. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer