Customer Reviews

Allison

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is the story of a young Asian child who becomes angry and alienated from her Caucasian parents when she recognizes that she has been adopted. Her parents are hurt but unable to help. The situation is resolved when the child takes in an adult stray cat. The child's dawning affection for the cat and her desire to keep it, help her understand the true meaning of family. - Others have objected to this story. However, I liked it. It was simple enough for my daughter to understand and to assimilate. I felt that the cat was not meant to be compared to a child, but instead to convey the understanding that love is unique and that families can be brought together in many ways. The child's 'speaking for the cat' reflects her own, new found, desire to remain part of the family. Her parent's finding ways to rectify damage inflicted on prize possessions from their own childhood reflects their quiet acceptance of their daughter's feelings. The pictures, especially the body language depicted, are wonderful. Not everything can be easily fixed. Not all parents know the best way to help with a sorrow. I feel that this story presents dissillusionment, anger, creativity, conflict, love and a gamut of other emotions pretty well. Perhaps that's why its other reviewers responded with so much feeling. One comment made by another reviewer criticizes the fact that a seemingly Chinese child has a Japanese doll. However, it is my interpretation that none of the subtext represents ignorance on the part of the author, but is rather intended to convey the painful mistakes and complexities of learning to understand and respect one another.

Once again, Allen Say has captured the spirit of a child through his words and illustrations. One only needs to look into the eyes of Allison in order to see and hear her questions of who she is and where she belongs. This gently woven story of families and adoption will be treasured by many.

We've read this book many times because my three year old daughter, who left China one year ago, is fascinated by Allison and her doll, Mei Mei, and because we're both drawn to Allen Say's illustrations, which so perfectly capture Allison's emotions. I wondered why Allison's parents had shared so little not only of her country of origin, which is never mentioned, but also about Allison's adoption in particular and adoption in general. Perhaps the real message of this book is to adults who think children can "wait until they're older" to hear their personal stories of adoption.

I read this to my 8 year old daughter who was adopted from Cambodia. What a terrible message about adoption this book sends! Yikes! Of course all internationally adopted children may have feelings such as described in the book...but I know a lot of adoptive families, and no one has even come close to this kind of reaction from the child....especially at Allison's young age. At her age, her parents are her world, no matter the fact that they don't look like each other. These issues arise later, and not in the manner described. It is like the author is working out some personal issue through this story. Sooooooooooo many other good books out there. I wish that I could remove this one from my child's school library.

As an adoptive parent of an Asian child (who we named Allison), I picked up this book anticipating a special connection. My 17 year old daughter read it first and agreed that we shouldn't show it to our Allison. None of this book makes sense for the age of the child or the situation. The illustrations are indeed beautiful but they are wasted on an ill written and poorly researched topic.

I generally love Say's work, but this book seems to me to have less psychological truth than some of his other productions. Allison appears to be somewhere around 5 years old--certainly old enough to be aware that she doesn't look like her parents, but unlikely to be deeply distressed about the racial difference unless there are particular stresses that the book isn't telling us about, such as nasty classmates or disapproving relatives. Her implicit equating of her own adoption with taking in a stray cat likewise has self-pitying overtones that seem more typical of an older child--I don't mean to suggest that young children don't enjoy dramatizing themselves, but rather that it doesn't usually take this form. (Parents who have spent several years and tens of thousands of dollars on adopting internationally won't appreciate the comparison either, although this book is of course not about the parent's point of view.) Finally, the book is somewhat peculiar in its use of demographics. Presumably Allison is Japanese or Japanese-American by birth, since her grandmother gives her a kimono, but Japan is hardly a significant source of adopted children for Americans, and not too many Japanese-American infants are going to be placed with Anglo couples. In short, while I appreciate Say's wish not to sentimentalize interracial adoption, this book would work better if it targeted older children and employed an older protagonist. My 4-year-old daughter (born in China) finds it baffling, although she's reasonably interested in other adoption stories.

Say deserves 5 stars for the gorgeous watercolors, but his facile and inaccurate text brings down his rating significantly. Why is this Chinese child (she refers to her doll by the Chinese word "mei mei" which means "little sister") dressed in a Japanese kimono? This jarring error disrupts the the flow of the text and significantly damages his credibility as a storyteller. Also, this story would feel more "true" if one of Allison's preschool friends had taunted her for her Asian features--her sudden discomfort is without context or motivation. Also, her vindictive destruction of her parents' treasured childhood property seems odd. Her parents are hurt, understandably, but they fail to grasp her deeper turmoil. I disagree with the previous reviewer; I have worked with young adoptees and find that even young children experience anguish (although not always expressed in the language adults are used to hearing). However, I am more troubled by her parents' lack of change. Instead of the entire family changing and growing, becoming closer together, Allison instead takes in a kitten and therefore everything is resolved. I find this conclusion superficial and misleading.
The illustrations are marvelous and almost make up for the text, but please read this book with a healthy amount of skepticism. For a more accurate representation of a child's experience of adoption, check out Ying Ying Fry's _Kids Like Me in China_.

I found this book offensive in the extreme. If I were an adopted child I would certainly not wish to be compared to a stray cat taken in off the street. I have found a lot of quality books about adoption. This one should be given a miss.