The Silence that Binds Us

There were a lot of themes present in this book, the most prominent one is racism. Set in California, Maybelline Chen has to deal with the recent loss of her brother Danny. If losing him wasn't enough, the father of one of May's friends racistly calls out her family for having too high of expectation for their son because they are Chinese. The author uses a very powerful writing style throughout the book, compelling the reader to really think about the state of the world. The author mixes in a lot of heartfelt moments throughout the book as well as emotionally powerful ones to keep the flow of the book going.

I don't think there was a moment in the book where I wasn't absorbed in what was happening. Moments such as May trying to figure out what to do to speak up against Mr. McIntyre, or May spending many of her waking hours thinking about the best moment to open Danny's shoe box resonated very deeply with me. The most prominent lesson I learned is that a tragedy can completely reshape or shatter the way a family works. The loss of Danny completely shatters the Chen family, who are almost unable to function for the first few weeks-months, but over time, the family slowly starts to piece itself back together whilst dealing with the racism of the community around them, which just adds to how scarily realistic a situation like this can be.