Customer Reviews

Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.)

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

 

 

How refreshing! A teen novel where everyone isn't obsessed with clothing brands and sex! In the Great Call of China, the main character, Cece, who's an adopted teen, has more important things to focus on. She wants to learn more about her heritage, maybe even find her birth parents! Reading Cynthea Liu's enthusiastic depiction of Chinese culture, as well as the intersection of Chinese and American cultures, made me want to hop on a plane tomorrow. I especially liked reading about the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an. Liu's secondary characters in the book deserve a shout-out; my favorite was Jessica, a Chinese-American who struggles to follow her own dreams instead of her parents' demands. Great read for teens and girls who think there's more to life than Juicy Couture and losing their virginity. A YA novel with real substance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I've had the chance to live in China for a time and visit many of the places Cece travels to, and I found the story to be very accurate and vividly described. Cece and her friends are well-rounded characters who are smart and interesting -- very refreshing when compared to many of the mean-spirited or gossip-oriented books available today. I intend to give this book as gifts to friends with 11- to 14-year-old daughters.

As a parent of two daughters, both adopted from China as infants, I eagerly read this book. Initially, I found it informative, realistic and authentic in terms of the main character's quest for answering questions about her identity, as she embarked on a trip to China. I had assumed this 'search' was to be based on the realities of Chinese adoptees and the information they may or may not be privy to if inquiring about the circumstances of their adoptions. It is illegal in China for parents to abandon their children, hence, there are babies left in public places - train stations, public squares, the doors of many orphanages. Typically there is no information whatsoever - as parents relinquishing their children would be severely punished if their identity was revealed. Hence, as the girl's 'search' for a birth parent and it's subsequent outcome were revealed, I was shocked and so disappointed to see how utterly unrealistic and "hollywood-like" it was. You are doing a disservice to a large number of Chinese adoptees currently living in the US (and elsewhere). This story, while having some redeeming qualities, lost total credibility when the main character 'found' her birth parent. Shame on you! This is not real life for Chinese adoptees and is a damaging fairy tale.

Cece's spending the summer in China - the nation of her birth. She was adopted when she was 2 years old. For her, it's more than just coming home; she's out to find her beginnings. While there, she's enrolled in the S.A.S.S. summer program. She's really looking forward to digging up the history of China and learning all that she can. Plus it doesn't hurt that she's caught the eye of the cutest boy in the program. Her roommate is a bit of a flake. Her expectations of China didn't prepare her for reality, but she's still having the time of her life. She's just not sure if she's brave enough to tackle finding out about her past. Will she miss her one chance?

I LOVE the S.A.S.S. series, each is written in a different place with a different author. I look for each new one. This one was awesome - heart wrenching (I did shed some tears). I love the culture shock and the friendships formed. Plus the Wall scene REALLY made me want to do the same thing - great writing!

Both the series' description and this individual book's description gave off a definite whiff of Teen Chick Lit, and this man's man has something of an allergy to Teen Chick Lit as far as you know. One reason is that it is fairly easy for these kinds of books to go off the deep end either into absolutely routine fluff: boys, clothes, boys, makeup, boys, school problems, boys, etc., until you want to claw your face off, or to the opposite extreme of the overwrought Serious Issue where the Teen Angst is laid on so thick that not even a mop and bucket can soak it all up -- you are going to need a bilge pump. Not that I'd have any reason to know this, man's man and all that. It's just what I've heard.

Fortunately, Ms. Liu rather nicely balances the fluff with the serious here, providing not too much of either. On the one hand there's a cute boy, and Cece anguishes quite a bit over whether he notices her, why he notices her if he notices her, whether he likes her, whether he likes her roommate instead, etc.; on the other hand there's the Serious Issue: an adopted child seeking information about her birth parents, which is made somewhat unusual by involving an adoption of a baby girl from China. This juxtaposition keeps the story from dragging. If you should start getting tired of the teen love, it turns out to be time to take another step on the search for birth parent truth, and the same is true in reverse.

Now, frankly, I had no doubt that the "love" story would be brought to a happy conclusion -- I believe it's the law in Teen Chick Lit. However, Ms. Liu kept me guessing to the end about Cece's quest for truth; it was never clear that she would find out what she wanted to find out or that she would like what she found. I also liked the way Ms. Liu played around with stereotypes; the Prada-wearing, Gucci-toting, Asian Brat Pack member with the rule about never dating Asian boys turns out to have a lot more depth (and character) than expected by the end.

In fact the only sour notes in this symphony of words occur in the area of politics, my particular bailiwick, and I don't even think they were Ms. Liu's fault. Frankly, I'm amazed she got ANY criticism of the PRC past the gatekeepers at Penguin because unlike criticism of Nazi Germany or the United States prior to the last election, criticism of the PRC is not something likely to attract universal agreement at a mainstream publisher. The trouble is that in the perhaps necessary bending over backward Mrs. Liu was forced to go through, a few clanks were struck that I feel compelled to respond to.

"As far as Cece knew, one of the goals of communism was to eliminate oppression."

According to whom? The communists? It would be more accurate to say that one of the goals of communism was to eliminate OPPOSITION.

"Like the government's family policies, it was another of those issues Cece didn't quite understand."

Only if she was TRYING not to understand, or more likely, those with responsibility for teaching her didn't WANT her to understand, or even more likely, the author was trying to slip a criticism of Tiananmen Square past the thought police, both PRC AND PC. Not to put too fine a point on it, the PRC has been a brutal, vicious, totalitarian dictatorship from the moment of its birth. Those who insisted on disputing that BEFORE Tiananmen Square were fools, those who insisted on disputing that AFTER Tiananmen Square were far worse.

Of course not even evil governments commit evil all the time, and even the most evil, for example the Nazis, have been falsely accused of things they did not do. However, there's really not that much question about the (admittedly unintentional) evil results of China's one-child policies. That's because while it is correct to say that:

"'there is little data to measure,' therefore... conclusions must draw from anecdotal evidence, and that is the truth."

that is NOT because "abandonment is illegal", but rather because the PRC government that could conduct studies or allow others to conduct studies either refuses to do so or refuses to release the results. In the face of that neither objectivity nor the scientific method require us to say, "No data? No problem!" nor require us to even tacitly join the coverup chorus, "There's nothing to see here; move along; these aren't the droids you are looking for." This lack of data makes it difficult to measure the scope of the problem as well as to separate out other contributing causes, like the traditional preference for baby boys, but it also means we needn't accept with even less evidence the claims that a combination of brutal crackdown, easing of the one-child policies, and the Chinese people's growing recognition of the value of baby girls has put the problem on the road to solution.

I'd like to believe it has, but I don't.

Note: This appears to be an interesting series. There are clearly a number of obvious similarities, including the apparent requirement for a soul-crushing pun in the title:

Westminster Abby (S.A.S.S.)
Getting the Boot (S.A.S.S.)
Spain or Shine (S.A.S.S.)
Pardon My French (S.A.S.S.)
The Sound of Munich (S.A.S.S.)
Heart and Salsa (S.A.S.S.)
Now and Zen (S.A.S.S.)
Swede Dreams (S.A.S.S.)
Girl Overboard (S.A.S.S.)
The Finnish Line (S.A.S.S.)
When Irish Guys Are Smiling (S.A.S.S.)
French Kissmas (S.A.S.S.)

However, the fact that almost every one has a different author makes it less certain to me at least that they will all be of similar quality. Unfortunately, this series is apparently too culturally conservative in its portrayals of teenagers to be carried by sophisticated Chicagoland bookstores (no sex, no drugs, no smoking, hardly even any drinking) so that if I ever want to try any others, I shall have to special order them, sight unseen.

This book is a bit of a mixed bag -- mostly very good. I enjoyed the descriptions of China and I learned much about the culture and history of China. The tale of adopted Cece's search for her history is touching and well written -- a pleasure to read.

I was less impressed by the more typical teen fare included in this book -- descriptions of how Cece's butt looked in her jeans, for example. I'm wondering if that's the story the author really wanted to tell or if this was necessary tailoring for the S.A.S.S. series (it's the only one in the series I've read, so I don't have anything to compare it to).

I'm an older reader, not the target audience. I'm guessing older tween and teen girls would enjoy this even more than I did.

The good and the not so good:

The main story of Cece searching for her birth parents was excellent. Cece had to face her fears and by the end of the story she not only appreciated her adopted parents but also she knew the story behind her birth. She was a very believable character and I really enjoyed her search for friends and her family in China.

What I didn't find believable was that she didn't have any jet lag after flying for about 20+ hours from Texas to China. I have hosted many foreign exchange students and my own two girls went to Germany and Ghana and they all needed to sleep for about two days from the jet lag. Cece barely slept and went to class the next morning.

She also didn't have much culture shock. Yes, she described some of the differences in the culture, but she really wasn't shocked about it. I know that when our students go to China they have to be briefed, and many don't make it because of differences between the cultures.

The rest of the story in THE GREAT CALL OF CHINA is great. Cece is a very likable character and the rest of her friends are, too. There are problems that are solved but very realistically.

I would love to read more about Cece and how she adjusts to life in the states after being away. I find that re-entry into our own culture is the more difficult of the experience. My own two had a harder time coming home than going, especially my daughter who went to Ghana. She has been back for over a year and the lessons she learned there are still causing havoc in her life today.

I liked this story a lot, had some problems with it, but still would rate it 4 Stars.

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison