Today I get to share a fun new middle grades novel. It features Asian-American middle school girls that are creative, intelligent and trying to figure out life and how to get their dreams to come true. The book is Gigi Shin Is Not a Nerd by Lyla Lee. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12 and was released this week.
From the Publisher:
This first book in a sparkling middle grade series giving a fresh take on The Baby-Sitters Club follows a young Korean American girl who starts a business with her best friends to support her artistic dreams.Jiyoung “Gigi” Shin loves to create, from her zany outfits to self-executed haircuts. She dreams of becoming an artist and doodles every chance she gets—at school instead of taking notes, in choir instead of singing, and at home instead of homework. Art is her way of escaping her boring life in suburban Middle of Nowhere, Texas. Unfortunately, her working class, immigrant parents want her to focus on her studies and pursue something more “practical.” Gigi only really feels like herself in art class and at lunch with her best friends, Carolina and Zeina.
When Gigi learns about an elite art camp on the east coast, she’s determined to go. But she knows her parents won’t let her, much less pay for it. After overhearing her little brother Tommy complain about how hard math is and how his teacher goes too fast for him, Gigi has a brilliant idea: forming a tutoring club with her friends to make enough money for the art camp.
With Carolina, Zeina, and Carolina’s friend, Emma, the girls go all in, each with a reason for wanting the business to succeed. But the first few sessions with their classmates are a little chaotic, and Gigi wonders if she will end up sacrificing more than she bargained for to achieve her dreams.
From Me:
This book is like the Babysitters Club and The Startup Squad. It has a group of friends in this case Asian American friends who find a reason that they need money. They get creative and start their own business. In this case the business is tutoring. Now it is probably slightly unrealistic how quickly they were able to get it all started, but I love the initiative. Then run into issues with the behavior of their clients and disagreements among the girls. Some are bigger issues than others. Some are issues for the girls but really shouldn't be. For example, Gigi's friends get upset when she adds an extra hour to her schedule without checking with them when she already checked about adding the new client. If they are already each tutoring someone for an hour each day where else would the new client go? Besides these minor issues the book is fun, and the girls go through difficulties of middle school from friend issues and boy issues.
I also love how the cultures are explained a bit. Their parents also all seem to think art is not a good choice for career and summer camp should be about academics and not art. However, this group of girls are talented artists. Gigi has an artist aunt that she has only met a few times but idolizes. This is pulled into the story as well. Art is definitely a major topic and the fact that most of the parents do not see art as a serious subject is throughout the book. I also love how the girls really end up helping out in their community by providing help with homework and studying for their peers as well as younger children. The parents also come together to help the girls in different ways and to eventually oversee the club.
The story is well written and makes the reader want to continue to see what happens. I can see middle grades loving this book. It is perfect for an individual read or a class read. I can also see that there will be sequels and can't wait to see what happens to the girls. I hope you will check it out!
