cbr14bingo Dough Level 2
In the Beautiful Country is a cute story told in verse that shows the ugly of the world, but also the hope that can come from it. The year between 1980 and 1981 of Anna’s life is relatable, powerful and a look into “The Beautiful Country” and the American Dream it promotes but does not always make it easy to obtain.
When Anna’s parents announce on Lunar New Year they are moving to The Beautiful Country (America), their family thinks them lucky. Anna thinks herself lucky, too, as she is moving to California where there are beaches and the Hollywood sign. That is until she realizes they can only take six suitcases with them, which leaves little room for toys, (but at 10 her mother thinks her too old for dolls anyway), books (they are heavy, plus there will be books in America), and most of her clothes are already too small so they must go into the give-away group. But when they land in the states, things are not as rosy as they were led to think. There are friends who are not so friendly, language barriers, racism, and money is tight. So tight in fact that since they are trying to save money, Anna does not even as for jelly when she finally convinces her mother to allow her to take the American food peanut butter and jelly sandwich to lunch for school.
The store (or actually restaurant) is bleeding money every day. Vandalism repairs reach into the $200 range. At church people know Anna and her family are the poorest there (they certain look down on them enough because of it) but because of the rule of not talking about money at church, they never even pretend they would ask her family if they needed help. And of course, hand-me-down shirts might be red, and therefore considered lucky, but they have dinosaurs on them and meant for boys and Anna has had enough teasing over her “waiting for a flood” pants. And her world is now limited to home, school and wherever she can walk to, or the bus can take her too. Not to mention she is convinced their TV is broken the first day she turns it on as it is in black and white. Anna is not used to having “less” when she is supposed to be in the land of “more.”
Based on Jane Kuo’s life (I want to know if 7-Pepper (part 7-UP and Dr. Pepper) is Jane’s favorite soda fountain drink), Anna learns how to stand up for herself, lean on family and help them too, be a good girl who know she is more than a little bit of an outsider, and to be proud all at once. This novel in verse reads like a traditional novel, giving all that you need to picture the experiences Anna faces from her first Halloween in the US to her second one.