Customer Reviews

The Amah

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As with many of Yep's books, THE AMAH takes place in the San Francisco China Town. It is about a girl name Amy. Amy's mother has found work as an "Amah" for an American girl named Stephanie. Amy gets jealous of her mother's love for Stephanie. Amy also needs to sacrifice some of her ballet lessons for her mom to work. This book is a companion to Ribbon

The Amah
By: Laurance Yep
Reviewed by: J. ...
Period: 6
This book is about a girl named Amy Chin and how her family doesn't have enough money until her mom gets a new job as a amah. Amy has to baby sit her sisters and brothers, which cause her to have to miss her ballet classes. The girl Mrs. Chin watches over is Miss Stephanie. Miss Stephanie seems to be taking away Amy's family and Amy starts to get jealous. But the worst thing is that Stephanie is going to move in with the Chin's while her dad is away at a business trip. Later, Amy and Stephanie start to get along and Amy finds out why Stephanie is so kind to her family.
I liked this book because it shows how friendships shouldn't be based on what the person look or acts on the outside but how the person is on the inside. In the beginning, when Amy first hears about Stephanie, she is already starting to hate her because she takes away her family, especially her mom, and also her time for ballet practices. Then when Amy is asked to go to a ballet performance with Stephanie, Amy questions about it because it's a performance that she really wants to see but doesn't want Stephanie thinking that she likes her. Then when Amy finds out that Stephanie is going to live with her and she has to clean the whole house for Stephanie, Amy becomes furious. "And I'm looking forward to staying with you," Stephanie said. When Stephanie comes to live with Amy, Amy finds out that Stephanie isn't the way she thinks she is. Stephanie is actually a really nice person that tries to get people to like her so that was why she always gave her things to Amy's family, So Amy and Stephanie become good friends.
I also liked this book because it shows how a family has to work together. Since Amy found out that her mom got a new job and that she had to give up her ballet practices to baby sit her brothers and sisters she was not happy about it but listened to her mother anyway. After the first day of her mom's job Amy was already feeling sick of Miss Stephanie. Amy's mom always said good things about Miss Stephanie and it made Amy look bad. Amy soon started to question her mother's love towards her. Finally, I had a name for the ache inside. "Mama, don't you love me?" In the end, Amy and her mom started to work things out between them and everything got better.
My favorite part of the book is when Amy stands up for Stephanie against Stephanie's father. After Stephanie's father found out about the things that Stephanie was taking from him to give to the Chin's, he was furious. He fired Mrs. Chin but Stephanie didn't think that was right. So Amy took charge and stepped in front of Stephanie's father and started to question him about Stephanie and he didn't know the answers. Amy finally got Stephanie's father to admit that he needed Mrs. Chin and that he needed to spend more time with is daughter. So in the end, Stephanie and her father start to get to know each other better and Amy and her mom also do the same.

I thought the story and the basic idea of this book was ok but it really isn't something I could relate to. I wanted to read it because I thought it would be more about ballet but it really wasn't. A few parts were about ballet but te majority of the book was just her complaining which got really old after a while. I would recommend this book to someone who doesn't want to read a ballet story.

Twelve-year-old Amy Chin feels trapped between two cultures as she and her four younger siblings grow up in 1990's San Francisco. Slender with a dancer's body she is eager to practice for her ballet class' production of CINDERELLA. But she resents a sudden casting change so that she has to play the part of one of the mean step-sisters. In fact there are frequent reference to the themes of magic and adaptation of this classic fairy tale throughout this serious YA novel. Obliged to take on the unappreciated role of sibling babysitter, Amy can grimly identify with both Cinderella and the step-sisters in this golden coin of privilege and poverty.

Widowed Mrs. Chin struggles to raise five children on her own--not to mention pay for Amy's ballet lessons, so she is overjoyed to accept a positions as an Amah (non-teaching governess) in the wealthy home of Mr. Sinclair--recently of Honk Kong. As Mama places increasing responsibility on her eldest Amy resents the disrespect of the brats, as she calls them. Mama seems to ignore Amy's needs to attend class and have a costume ready, and be loved for being a good and obedient daughter. As Mama continues praising her perfect angel, Miss Stephanie, Amy's jealousy and anger finally burst out. This ladylike princess has stolen both Mama and Amy's siblings--though does she really think that love can be purchased with comics, food and barely used clothing?

Amy ultimately learns that all that glitters is not necessarily gold, for there is a great disparity between the fashionable exterior of the Sinclairs' opulent lifestyle and their private pain; both father and daughter are tortured by cruel memories and false accusations. Can Amy overcome her prejudice against the pampered Eurasian princess in time to recognize and nurture the true magic of the Cinderella story? Yep presents a poignant portrait of the psychological trauma of first gene-
ration Chinese-Americans--struggling to fit in, while forced to retain and respect enigmatic traditions of their heritage. Amy has yet to learn what Mama considers her most prized family heirloom. And why.

I loved this book! Yep does a great job at brining Chinese and American cultures together and does so flawlessly. This book was a modern-day spin off of Cinderella (much like Ella Enchanted), however; this book address real issues of realistic judgments and inadequacies children feel when a new child enters the home.

I thought incorporating the ballet into the development of Amy as a character was a fantastic idea. The art of ballet is extremely disciplined and it is clear that Amy needs that type of guidance to get her through a difficult time in her life. It is realistic that children might use their hobbies as a means to escape difficult situations and perhaps Amy used ballet as a way to release her frustrations.

I really enjoyed this book because even though almost all of Laurence Yep's books have the same "outsider" theme, I found it great to see it from this strong-minded girl's view!

This book is filled with great description from the very start and would, without hesitation, recommend it to anyone who either enjoys Laurence Yep's book or looking for an easy read with a great moral lesson.

Read it, devoured it, loved it !!!

I read The Amah as a school project. In The Amah Amy's mom becomes an amah, a special kind of babysitter, for a girl named Stephanie. Since Mama spends so much time with Stephanie, twelve-year-old Amy has to take care of her four brothers and sisters in the afternoons. But this means skipping ballet classes, which are VERY important to Amy. And on top of that, Mama and Amy's siblings seem to love staphanie more than her! Amy feels cheated. But she learns that you should try to change yourself, and not only your peers.
Even though The Amah is a good book, I felt that it was a little un-fair to Amy. Everybody expected so much from her! That's why I only gave it three stars. (But i would've given it three and a half stars if I could've.)