Q&A with Lisa Yee
Author Lisa Yee responds to questions about Ivy and her story
Q: How did your experiences growing up in the 1970s inspire your work on the Ivy book?
A: I could totally relate to Ivy. I wore flared pants, vests, and sported a macramé purse. I thought I looked sooooo chic. And, like Ivy, I loved The Brady Bunch. I would watch the show on our black and white television.
My grandparents came to America from China, so it seemed natural to have chopsticks resting beside the silverware in our utensil drawer. I went to LOTS of family gatherings with TONS of relatives. Food was (and still is) central at these events. I used to dread going because I knew that all my aunts and uncles would pinch my cheeks and say, "You're getting so big!" But at the same time, I loved eating the food and seeing my cousins.
Q: What research did you do in writing Ivy's story?
A: I immersed myself in books, magazines and television shows from the 1970s. I also studied up on Bruce Lee, the idol of Ivy's brother, Andrew. And I just sat around and tried to remember what my childhood was like.
To learn more about gymnastics, I read books and magazines and watched videos. I also made it a point to go to Payke Gymnastics Academy, near my house in South Pasadena. There I observed the gymnasts, interviewed the coach, and talked to a ten-year old who, like Ivy, has been in gymnastics since she was six.
Additionally, I flew to San Francisco where Ivy's book is set. I marched up and down the hills of North Beach and explored Ivy's neighborhood. From there, I walked to Chinatown taking the path I thought Ivy would take when she went to Chinese School and to visit the Happy Panda, her grandparents' restaurant. I also dropped by the Chinatown YWCA, which is now where the Chinese Historical Society is housed. And, of course, I went to Ghirardelli Square and had ice cream and bought chocolate, just as Ivy does in the book. (Ah, what I will do in the name of research!)
Q: How would you describe Ivy's circumstances in the story?
A: Family life is at the center of Ivy's story. Both parents are incredibly busy-Ivy's mom is in law school-and Ivy wants more time with her parents, especially her mom. Plus, Ivy is sad that Julie, her best friend, has moved away. However, Ivy finds solace in gymnastics where she's a shining star-or at least until she fell and lost her nerve. When she must choose between an annual family reunion and the big gymnastics tournament, Ivy is torn.
Q: What do you hope girls will learn from Ivy?
A: I hope that girls will realize that they are in much more control of their lives than they may think. In the beginning of the book, Ivy believes that she has bad luck and feels sorry for herself. It takes a while, but eventually it dawns on her that she is capable of facing her fears and overcoming them. She learns to make decisions and take control of her life.
I would also hope that girls learn how important their role is in their family-as a sister, daughter, or granddaughter.
Contributor: American Girl Publishing
Further information about Lisa Yee and her books is available at www.lisayee.com.
Reviews
Good Luck, Ivy
Lisa Yee
Illustrations by Robert Hunt
Vignettes by Nika Korniyenko and Susan McAliley
This book is part of the popular "American Girl" series and the story is set in 1974. The main character is Julie's friend, Ivy. Those familiar with the series know that the stories are set in different time frames and Julie is a young girl living in San Francisco in the 1970s. Ivy Ling is experiencing the normal difficulties of a pre-teen striving to succeed at her sport while she is chafing at the limitations of her home life. Her mother is busy and Ivy is getting tired of eating Chinese food from her grandparents' restaurant, and she sometimes cannot understand why she has to spend hours every Saturday at the Chinese school. Ivy is a gymnast who has doubts about her abilities after a fall. In addition, her best friend Julie has moved so they cannot spend as much time together. The story moves along nicely and will be enjoyed by those young girls familiar with the series. However, newcomers to the "American Girl" concept will also find it interesting as the story can stand alone. There is an informative section in the back of the book giving an overview of the Chinese American experience in the United States. 2007, Pleasant Company, Ages 7 to 12, $12.95. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford
ISBN: 1-5936-9357-5
ISBN: 978-1-5936-9357-2
Millicent Min, Girl Genius
Lisa Yee
Millicent Min is an atypical eleven-year-old girl who doesn't like boys, nail polish, stuffed animals, shopping, sports, or Stanford Wong, her archenemy. She is also taking a college poetry course the summer before her senior year in high school! Millicent is a genius, and her parents are proud, but they feel that she is missing her childhood. In an effort to help Millicent act like a preteen, her mother and best friend/grandmother, Maddie, enroll Millicent in a summer volleyball team and then volunteer her to tutor Stanford Wong. Millicent's last summer in Rancho Rosetta, California may be one that she will never forget. She has to tutor her nemesis, play on a volleyball team full of beautiful girls who hate her, and deal with her grandmother's move to another city. On top of all this, she thinks her mother is dying. With a summer like that, who needs the school year? But if Millicent will just stop analyzing her life and live it, she may find out that being a preteen volleyball player is as much fun as being a preteen genius. Lisa Yee uses the diary of a girl as the format for this novel. Her use of language allows readers to believe that they are reading the diary of a young girl, while the details remind the reader that the young girl is a genius. Yee's use of slang and simple English establishes a connection between Millicent and the reader. This mixture of language helps to show the reader the different dimensions of Millicent. Even though she has the brain of a genius, Millicent still has the heart of a child. 2003, Arthur A Levine Books, $16.95. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Michelle Wade (Children's Literature).
"Maybe I ought to live in my tree and just be myself." It's summer and eleven-year-old accomplished genius Millicent Min has just completed her third year of high school lacking friends and searching for a scholarly challenge in a college poetry class. Each new day's recording of incidents reveals Millicent's lack of social and physical abilities to interact in a world of trials and tribulations--the likes of a roller coaster escapade. Her childhood disappeared at the age of two when IQ tests administered first revealed a computer glitch, then an intelligence so high, it's an anomaly. Supportive parents and grandmother are ever present in her life, but there are complications. Dad doesn't have a job, mom has ending-in-death cancer (actually pregnant), and Maddie leaves soon for Europe. A detailed analysis of a new found friend's boyfriend leaves Millicent searching for a younger counterpart. It's at the positively horrible volleyball league that she discovers Emily, but jeopardizes that bond by telling lies to protect a pact with Stanford, the basketball geek who Millicent tutors. Author Lisa Yee's first novel shares her genius in this rollicking, never-a-dull moment enlightenment of a summer in the life of a rising star. 2003, Scholastic Press, $16.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Barbara Troisi (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2004; Bank Street College of Education; United States
Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, Supplement, 2005; H. W. Wilson; United States
Children's Catalog, Nineteenth Edition, 2006; H.W. Wilson; United States
Children's Choices, 2004; International Reading Association; United States
Choices, 2004; Cooperative Children's Book Center; United States
Great Middle School Reads, 2004; ALSC American Library Association; United States
Middle and Junior High School Library Catalog, Ninth Edition, 2005; H.W. Wilson; United States
Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, November 10, 2003; Cahners; United States
Awards, Honors, Prizes:
Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner 2003 United States
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Garden State Children's Book Award, 2006; Nominee; Fiction; New Jersey
Georgia Children's Book Award, 2005-2006; Nominee; Georgia
Lone Star Reading List, 2005-2006; Reading List; Grades 6-8; Texas
The Nene Award, 2005; Nominee; Hawaii
South Carolina Junior Book Award, 2006; Nominee; United States
Young Hoosier Book Award, 2005-2006; Nominee; Middle Grades; Indiana
Young Reader's Choice Award, 2006; Nominee; Grades 7-9; Pacific Northwest
ISBN: 0-439-42519-0
ISBN: 0-439-42520-4
ISBN: 978-0-439-42519-3
ISBN: 978-0-439-42520-9
So Totally Emily Ebers
Lisa Yee
Emily Ebers' life as she knows it is over. Her parents have gotten a divorce. Her father has gone on a tour with his band and now her mother is moving across the U.S. Emily has to leave behind everything she loves. Her two best friends are going off to camp without her. Will they remember her? Things get worse when her mother signs her up for volleyball and the local Neighborhood Watch program. Emily's mother begins to act strangely and Emily finds herself adrift until she makes some new friends. Emily discovers that not all her friends are being honest with her and not all of them are sincere friends. She is torn in two directions. Which path will she choose? This is a good book to discuss feelings about divorce and choosing friends. Some other books on friendship include Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita, or Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis. Oy! Joy by Lucy Frank is also a good book about divorce. 2007, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, $16.99. Ages 9 to 12. Reviewer: Jennifer Mitchell (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
Children's Catalog, Nineteenth Edition, Supplement, 2007; H.W. Wilson; United States
ISBN: 978-0-439-83847-4
ISBN: 0-439-83847-9
ISBN: 978-0-439-83848-1
ISBN: 0-439-83848-7
Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time
Lisa Yee
On the cusp of junior high and an invitation to join the coveted basketball A-team, twelve-year-old Stanford Wong flunks sixth-grade English. It is the end of his world as he knows it. Basketball summer camp is replaced by remedial English. But that is not all. Stanford's woes build. His father ignores him. His parents are fighting. His beloved grandmother Yin-Yin is put in a home. Adding insult to injury, his genius cousin Millicent Min is recruited to tutor him--every day, after summer school. Lisa Lee, who won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award for Millicent Min, Girl Genius has created another winning character in Stanford. He bumbles, he stumbles, he fights actually reading a book tooth and nail. With all his defenses down, there is no place to go but up. Watch Stanford become a champ in more ways than basketball. Watch reluctant adolescent male readers gobble up Stanford's story. 2005, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, $16.99. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature).
Best Books:
Choices, 2006; Cooperative Children's Book Center; United States
Notable Children's Books, 2006; American Library Association-ALSC; United States
State and Provincial Reading Lists:
Virginia Readers' Choice Award, 2007-2008; Nominee; Middle; Virginia
ISBN: 0-439-62247-6
ISBN: 0-439-62248-4
ISBN: 978-0-439-62247-9
ISBN: 978-0-439-62248-6
Added 11/27/07
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