Angelfish [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

"Bunheads can't do anything right," Mr. Tsow told Robin.

After accidentally breaking the front window of a pet fish store, Robin commits to working off the cost of the window after ballet class-even though that means enduring insults from a grouchy old man who calls her a "half-person" because she is only half Chinese. Robin works extra hard to prove Mr. Tsow wrong and marvels over the uncharacteristically tender way he takes care of the fish, especially the beautiful angelfish. He is just like the Beast in the ballet Robin is rehearsing.

Robin is curious about what turned him into such a beast, and she and her feisty grandmother search for clues about his past. Their digging leads to a shocking story about the Cultural Revolution, and Robin learns how much Mr. Tsow has overcome just to be here, much less have a soft spot-even for fish.

Praise for previous books about Robin from this Newbery Honor-winner:

"An elegant tale of love and understanding."-Kirkus Reviews on Ribbons

"A searching and funny look at Chinese American family life."
-Publisher's Weekly on The Cook's Family

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Laurence Yep continues the adventures of Chinese-American ballet student Robin Lee, previously met in Ribbons and The Cook's Family, in Angelfish, a twist on "Beauty and the Beast." Robin has just landed the role of Beauty in a ballet recital when she accidentally breaks the window of a pet-fish store belonging to the beastly Mr. Tsow, who sentences her to three months of work to make up for the damage. Aided by her Chinese-born grandmother, Robin discovers that Mr. Tsow had been a ballet star in China until the Cultural Revolution forced his "reeducation," and with this knowledge she brings about his transformation.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-An appealing sequel to Ribbons (1996) and The Cook's Family (1998, both Putnam). Robin has just won the plum role of Beauty in the Beauty and the Beast segment of her San Francisco dance school's production of Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. As she and her friends are leaving the school, she playfully tosses her book bag at one of them and it goes through the plate-glass window of a pet store. The manager comes storming out, and Robin offers to work for him until the window is paid off. At first, he is rude to her because she is a "bunhead," and then because she is only half-Chinese. The relationship between Robin and Mr. Tsow parallels the relationship between Beauty and the Beast, as the girl slowly comes to discover that he is not the monster he pretends to be. Eventually, she discovers that he was the most famous dancer in China until the Cultural Revolution, when his toes were cut off as punishment for his "crimes." When the woman who is supposed to design the costumes and sets for the production suddenly leaves, Robin convinces Mr. Tsow to take over. The conclusion is a bit pat, but Yep does offer some insightful and amusing insights into the life of a young Chinese American as well as some historical facts about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. An entertaining read with an engaging and resourceful protagonist.

Marlyn K. Roberts, Torrance Public Library, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (June 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399230416
• ISBN-13: 978-0399230417
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #732,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurence Yep has been fascinated with tales of sibling rivalry from the day he was born. His older brother, Tom, chose his name Laurence - after a saint who died a particularly gruesome death. Laurence has been trying to get even ever since. Laurence Yep now lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife and is one of children's literature's most respected authors. His award-winning titles include Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book By Tats, March 20, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Angelfish (Hardcover)

I read Angelfish for an English book project. I LOVED THE BOOK! I thought that the book would be stupid, because we had to do something about different race writers. I chose Angelfish because I judge books by their covers. I never knew that I would fall in love with a book I thought I would hate.

BUY IT!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Years Later and I still Remember it..., July 9, 2011

By 

E. Finch "finchgal" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Angelfish (Hardcover)

I read this book, maybe 9 or 10 years ago, and I still remember thoroughly enjoying it. On a whim I looked it up again, and I still think it is an excellent book. It eloquently brings up cultural issues while still letting it be interesting enough for young readers. Very good, it left an impressions, read it.

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but unrealistic heroine..., December 24, 2010

By 

Joel B. Kirk (Bay Area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Angelfish (Hardcover)

Robin is a half-white/half-Chinese girl who--at first glance--is taken for a Caucasian girl. She is a ballet student who works for Mr. Tsow, a man who runs a pet fish store, to pay for his store window that she mistakenly broke while walking home with her friends.

Mr. Tsow is a grumpy man who belittles Robin, but she comes to find out why he is grumpy: He used to be a dancer, and now he carries a leg with a limp.

A good, fast-moving story; but Robin and her friends are written as adults, not the kids their age: There is one point in the story where she visits a family friend with her grandmother and another relative. Robin is able to do math in her head, recall points in history, etc. Moreover, she is able to reason (about race, the time she spends on ballet and work, etc...) all like a responsible adult; she even talks like an adult in a way. An example is during a break, when she an her friends are speaking about the Chinese cultural revolution.

At no point in the story, does Robin (or her friends) talk about the latest trends, boys, girls, music, etc.

Too, Robin surmises (via 'info-dump') that people usually react to her mixed ethnicity. However, the only person that reacts to her mixed ethnicity in a negative way (and reacts openly) is Mr. Tsow; everyone else in the book treats her in a positive manner and doesn't mention anything about her mixed-racial heritage.

(There obviously wasn't a character there, but how would these characters react to an Asian girl with a black father?)

The author, in my opinion, has given us a 'fairy tale'-like Chinatown (which is set in the Richmond district of San Francisco). However, with all that said, I am looking forward to reading about Robin in Laurence Yep's 'The Cook's Family.'