Tiger Daughter by Australian author Rebecca Lim (Mercy series) arrives Stateside already highly celebrated. Lim's novel might initially suggest another familiar immigration story, but her deeply empathic observations ensure an immersive coming-of-age exploration that should resonate with readers regardless of their backgrounds.
Wen must be the perfect daughter for her China-to-Australia immigrant parents: excellent grades, silent respect, absolute obedience. When Wen wrote a letter to her aunt in China and it was returned undeliverable, Dad read it: "he went into my bedroom, and tore down every poster and picture and letter from friends that I had stuck on my walls and set them all on fire in the backyard." Dad was a "promising young doctor in China," but his failure to pass the Australian exams means he's an angry, "ruthless" floor manager at a Chinese restaurant. School is "the safest place in [Wen's] life," where Henry, a recent Chinese immigrant, is her closest friend. Their teacher encourages and enables the pair to apply for an "amazing, government-funded selective school." Tragedy almost derails their efforts, but Wen defies parental expectations for emboldening results.
Lim infuses her fiction with raw honesty, which exposes unchecked bullying, emotional and physical abuse, gender inequity, the threat of sexual violence, and the fatal cost of unacknowledged mental illness. Lest readers find her narrative overly dark, Lim deftly balances the dysfunction with courageous, empowering moments, inspired by new friendships at school for Wen. In ultimately championing empathy and kindness, Lim's Tiger Daughter delivers a comforting balm for young audiences. --Terry Hong, BookDragon