Customer Reviews

Enter The Parrot

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

 

 

Review by Jill Williamson

Jade's dad remarried a Chinese woman when she was a baby, so Jade might be a white girl, but she's Chinese to the core. When her grandfather's talking parrot goes missing, he asks Jade to look into it. A sucker for a mystery, Jade starts asking around. The closer she gets, the stranger everything is. What is the Jade Monkey? And why has it chosen her? And why does TF, the hot Chinese guy, pop into her mind more than Cedric, her cute eco-friendly blond boyfriend? One this is certain, if she keeps on this case--and learning kung fu in secret--she won't only lose Cedric, she'll lose her best friends too, because this case is threatening to take over her life.

The tag line for this book is awesome: One girl. One Parrot. One ancient kung fu mystery. Got kung fu?

Enter the Parrot reads like a movie, and I think Hollywood needs to get on the case. Jade's character is funny and sarcastic. I absolutely adored her family dynamics, being the white girl in the Wong family. The other characters in the book are unique and entertaining. My favorite being TF, of course, the tall, dark, and mysterious young man Jade keeps running into in her search for more clues. I thought the premise was really unique and clever. I haven't seen a case like this before in anything I've read, so check it out, mystery lovers. Kiki Lon is the best thing to happen to teen fiction in a long time. Fun, fun, fun! I can't wait for book two.

Jade Ascott. Student...environmentalist...aspiring criminal scientist...sole white member of her Chinese family.

The mystery begins when Jade receives an unmarked white envelope. Things get even stranger when Jade's grandfather asks her to look into the disappearance of his parrot, John Wayne, and decides it's time to train her in Kung Fu.

Combing the streets of Chinatown for clues, while trying to balance crime-solving with school, training, and two super-cute boys requires every bit of skill Jade can muster. But will she be able to unravel the mystery of the Jade Monkey before it's too late?

I'm glad this was a review book since I might have given up had it not been. It took roughly fifty pages before the story captured my interest, but once Ms. Lon finished detailing Jade's backstory the mystery gained momentum and kept me furiously flipping the pages until the end.

Though I would have liked a little more interaction between Jade and her parents, the close relationship she had with her maternal grandparents was sweet and refreshingly portrayed. Jade is a hip, fresh young heroine who possesses spunky initiative in spades, and I look forward to reading future tales of her Kung Fu crime-solving adventures.

Reviewed by: Cat

" love the character of Jade, she should be miserable raised as oriental but looking white but Jade is pretty accepting of her situation. And when Jade starts having to pit her deduction skills against members of the mysterious kung fu society, I was cheering her on all the way. Oh and two cute boys vying for her attention adds another fun element to the story. Jade has to prove she is a worthy contender for membership in the secret society while learning kung fu, joining the new version of cheer leading her school is implementing, following the clues to her grandpa's parrot, and of course keeping up with her school work. It is a tough life! I don't miss being a teen one little bit but I really enjoyed this story! Jade is a character you can't help rooting for! I hope there are more books like this planned, I'd love another adventure featuring Jane and the secret society." - Steph B.