The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Overview

A humorous and heartwarming debut about split cultural identities, and all the ways life fails to go according to plan for sixth-grader Lucy Wu.

Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She's ready to rule the school as a sixth grader, go out for captain of the school basketball team, and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother's sister, is coming to visit for several months — and is staying in Lucy's room. Lucy's vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, a bully who tries to scare Lucy off the basketball team, and Chinese school with the annoying know-it-all Talent Chang. Lucy's year is ruined — or is it? A wonderfully funny, warm, and heartfelt tale about the ways life often reveals silver linings in the most unexpected of clouds.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545162166
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	146,726
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	700L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Wendy Wan-Long Shang is the author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, which was awarded the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature; The Way Home Looks Now, an Amelia Bloomer Project List selection and a CCBC Choices List selection; The Secret Battle of Evan Pao, which received multiple starred reviews; Sydney Taylor Honor Book This Is Just a Test, which she cowrote with Madelyn Rosenberg; and Not Your All-American Girl, a Tablet Magazine Best Children's Book, also cowritten with Madelyn Rosenberg. She lives with her family in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Great Wall of Lucy Wu:Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Library Association Award for Children's Literature"A delightful story about assimilation and family dynamics . . . sure to appeal to young readers struggling with issues of self-identity, whatever their heritage." — Los Angeles Times"Thought-provoking, funny, and incredibly heartwarming." — Booklist"A realistic and amusing portrait of family dynamics, heritage, and the challenge of feeling like an outsider." — Publishers Weekly"Genuinely touching." — Kirkus Reviews"A unique look at the power of family." — Discovery Girls Magazine



""A delightful story about assimilation and family dynamics, ‘The Great Wall of Lucy Wu’ is sure to appeal to young readers struggling with issues of self-identity, whatever their heritage."" -Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

Sarcastic, attention-seeking, and prone to whining, Lucy Wu has a big personality and plenty of opinions. She is convinced that her sixth-grade year will be the best yet: she's looking forward to having her own bedroom when her older sister leaves for college, and to the upcoming basketball season. Instead, it is one disappointment after another. Her parents invite her late grandmother's long-lost sister, Yi Po, from Shanghai to visit for a few months and share Lucy's room, and instead of basketball practice, Lucy may be forced to attend Chinese school ("The Chinese part of my life just doesn't make sense sometimes," Lucy complains). Additionally, she is dealing with a secret crush and avoiding a bully. First-time author Shang effortlessly interweaves the multiple threads of her story, as Lucy grows tremendously (and rewardingly) while learning about China's turbulent history and the value of sympathy and strength. Bolstered by frequent use of Chinese language and proverbs, this is a realistic and amusing portrait of family dynamics, heritage, and the challenge of feeling like an outsider--even in one's own family. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 4–6—Lucy knows that sixth grade is going to be the best year ever: she finally gets her own room now that her older sister is off to college, and she and her friend Madison are ready to rule the basketball courts. But Lucy's parents put a glitch in those plans when her father returns from a business trip to China with Lucy's great-aunt, who will visit until Christmas. Lucy again has a roommate, and resents this elderly lady who does not speak English and cooks only Chinese food for a family used to pizza and burgers. To make matters worse, her parents insist that she attend Chinese school on Saturday mornings, which means forgoing basketball practice. She is busy with her suburban American life and doesn't feel the need to converse in Chinese or to dwell on Chinese traditions. Slowly, though, she comes to appreciate all that Yi Po has lived through and the quiet ways that her great-aunt shows her love for the family. When Lucy is bullied by a popular girl, she thinks about what her brother told her about Yi Po's life during China's Cultural Revolution and determines that she will act with similar courage and conviction. Lucy is an engaging character, and Shang skillfully weaves in Chinese history and legend as she brings the relationships between Lucy and her family and friends to life. Fans of Grace Lin's Year of the Dog (2006) and Year of the Rat (2008, both Little, Brown) will enjoy meeting this feisty protagonist as she learns to dismantle some walls she has built around herself.—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

School Library Journal

Lucy Wu may only be 4 feet tall, but she has big (and brilliantly on-the-money kidlike) dreams: to play professional basketball for the WNBA and then create a design shop aimed at sports-loving gals. When the story opens, sixth grade is about to start, and Lucy is on top of the world. She comes down with a bang when she learns that Yi Po, her grandmother's long-lost sister, is coming from China for a long visit and will be sharing her room. Worse, Lucy is stuck attending Chinese school and must compete to be captain of the basketball team with a girl who doesn't believe in fair play. Readers may initially want to tell Lucy to stop whining, but as the character evolves, she becomes sympathetic and worth rooting for. There's little in the way of plot twists that experienced readers won't see coming, but the cultural depiction of the Chinese-American family, Shang's use of traditional tales and Yi Po's heart-wrenching story add dimensionality and heft, and the novel's final scenes are genuinely touching.(Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews