Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda

In a school packed with white faces only, Chinese immigrant Xing (pronounced Shing) but called Kris, knows what it is to be on the outside looking in. Ever since he came with his father and mother to the Land of Opportunity he's found himself shunned because of his accent, because his Oriental looks, and because of his parent's low income. The only bright spot in Xing's endless sea of despair lies in the refuge of his best friend Naomi, also a Chinese immigrant, who from day one relied upon Xing as translator and tutor. But tutor has surpassed the teacher and lately Naomi has begun to assimilate in ways that Xing could never accomplish, seeming to leave Xing yet more alone.

After a string of high schoolers from Xing's school turn up missing, the entire town becomes suspicious and frightened and looking for villains on every corner. In his solitary observances, Xing begins to notice seemingly isolated occurrences which lead him closer and closer to the frightening culprit. Though a series of freakishly random coincidences seem to level the finger of suspicion straight at Xing himself.

There are a variety of reasons as to why I picked up Andrew Xia Fukuda's dark debut Crossing. The promise of a young male Asian protagonist who constantly struggled - often without success - to assimilate into American society seemed too tempting a prospect to pass by. Not your usual YA character or hero, Xing proves himself to be compelling and extremely sympathetic narrator as a bully-magnet with deeply-rooted emotions. Every minute detail of the events leading up to the discovery of the kidnapper is painfully recorded, even those that paint Xing in a less than flattering light.

To be honest, I was not expecting such a startling conclusion to Crossing. If anything, due to the prologue I was anticipating the opposite of what actually occurred. Crossing is not a ponies and rainbows novel, it was almost painful at times in fact. It takes a deep, intimate look at how fear of the other can ignite with a single spark, spread like wildfire, and wind up just as deadly. And the prose itself is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the cruelty of teenagers at its most heartbreaking. But. Crossing was extremely well-written, but I found myself terribly depressed upon finishing. Perhaps I wasn't quite in the right frame of mind for such a stark novel, but I found Crossing to be a little too much on the bleak side without any hope of redemption acting as a counterbalance. Each time it felt like Xing might be on the brink of finding some measure of happiness or a little bit of success, some new catastrophe would inevitably occur sending him right back to square one. Which of course made for a page-turning novel but not one I'd recommend without some hesitation.

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Bart's Bookshelf review
Katie's Book Blog review
Sharon Loves Books and Cats review
Wondrous Reads review

book source: provided by the author

Like mother, like daughter

This past week my mom has been in town, helping out with my little turkey boy post-surgery, saving my bacon on numerous occasions and in general just being a good person to have around. Something else I have rediscovered on this visit however is that I seem to have gotten my bookish tendencies (unsurprisingly) from her. Imagine that. When I think about it, my mom is the single most important reason why I am such a bibliophile in the first place. She and my dad always had stacks and stacks of books lying around the house, silently tempting us kids to visit the various exotic worlds of Tolkien, Kipling, and Twain. My mom's one of those parents that read every single book I ever brought home, be it for school or one a friend lent me, she always wanted to find out what I was reading. And later would inevitably draw me into a discussion about it. A sneaky tacit I'll have to remember for the future as a way to communicate with unresponsive teenagers.

Until I found myself firmly surrounded by all you marvy book bloggers and readers, I'd never before met anyone besides my mom who enjoyed reading for the sake of reading like I do. Now, our reading preferences don't necessarily always align: I'm more of a YA/fantasy type of gal while she likes classics, mysteries, and non-fiction - what I call 'thinker' books; but we are always willing to try out what the other likes and recommends. So I'm always a little bit giddy and a just a teeny bit nervous when she comes to visit because I want her to love the books I've recently discovered as much as I did. And then I want to discuss them. Habit, I guess. I always set a few aside for her but mainly I just let her browse my shelves until she finds something that looks interesting or new. On this trip so far she's gone through (remember she's only been here 4 days folks): Crossing, A Song for Summer, Bewitched & Betrayed, Mind Games (which she set aside because, as she said "It had a little too much sex."), Dairy Queen and just tonight I laid my beloved President's Daughter set on her bed, hoping she'll be as awed by them as I am.

To my surprise (although not really, cause who doesn't love these books?) her favorite so far has been Eva Ibbotson's A Song for Summer. Like me, she was instantly overwhelmed by Ibbotson's lush and descriptive writing style. My mom loved the characters, the setting and of course, the ending. "Perfect" was her final verdict. I agreed wholeheartedly. 

I think I had forgotten how nice is it to actually sit down with someone, face to face, and discuss books you have both read and enjoyed. I also had forgotten that rush you get when you recommend a book to a friend and they wind up loving it as much as you hoped they would. Which is why I think I'm on a bit of a high at the moment seeing as how I had specifically picked out A Song for Summer as one she'd love. Although since our conversations have me itching for a re-read, I guess the apple really didn't fall too far from the tree in this case.