American Panda, Gloria Chao
American Panda, Gloria Chao
2 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

American Panda

Author: Gloria Chao

Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller

Unabridged: 7 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/06/2018


Synopsis

“Weepingly funny.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Delightful.” —BuzzFeed
“Charmed my socks off.” —David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Kids of Appetite and Mosquitoland

Four starred reviews for this incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth—that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

From debut author Gloria Chao comes a hilarious, heartfelt tale of how, unlike the panda, life isn’t always so black and white.

About Gloria Chao

Gloria Chao is the critically acclaimed author of American PandaOur Wayward Fate, and Rent a Boyfriend. When she’s not writing, you can find her with her husband on the curling ice or hiking the Indiana Dunes. She does not regret putting aside her MIT and dental degrees to write, and she is grateful to spend her days in fictional characters’ heads instead of real people’s mouths. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.Wordpress.com and find her on Twitter and Instagram @GloriaCChao.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Danielle on October 18, 2020

This was another okay/quick read. May is a 17 year old M.I.T. med student, highly pressurized by her strict Chinese parents to be the perfect child and not disgrace the family. 😇 I definitely didn’t experience this kind of pressure with school or career choices growing up. It’s kind of a sad story.......more

Goodreads review by Angelica on May 29, 2020

I loved this so much! I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was equal parts funny and earnest, heartwarming and heartbreaking and it was so good! I laughed so hard while reading this book. And no, I don’t mean awkward little smiles and little huffs of air. No. I actually laughed out loud the ent......more

Goodreads review by emma on June 09, 2018

Things that were absolutely full-on remarkable/fantastic/excellent/next-level/choose-your-own-positive-adjective about this book: - the representation - the character development - the family relationships This book is some of the best cultural representation I've ever. Read. In. My. LIFE. Our main char......more

Goodreads review by Heather on February 13, 2018

3/5 A cute, adorable diverse read!!! Will feature it very soon in a mashup review!!......more

Goodreads review by alexandra on September 02, 2020

this is the first book that made me feel like my asian-american-ness is seen. forever grateful. full review to come.......more