While Jenny Zhang's relating of her early childhood at times made me squeamish, there is no denying her literary brilliance. This is a often page turner and a Bildungsroman that fascinates by the author's growing towards the realization that the sometimes suffocating parental (and grand-parental) love can exasperate and oppress but leaves a lonely emptiness when it is absent.

Didn't like this book. Couldn't even finish it.....and that's very rare for me. Some of the stories were way too detailed and almost made me feel sick. The whole book was very confusing and hard to follow. The chapters were long and just didn't flow. Not for me.

These charming contemporary stories often balance hardship with humor and all focus on the experiences of Chinese immigrants to America. Most of the stories also center around complex relationships between older sisters and their much younger siblings, and how each child adjusts to life in America. I'd recommend the audiobook as well, which features a variety of narrators to enhance the collection's feel.