The Ping-Pong Queen of Chinatown

May 6, 2024
Chinese American Felix Ma struggles to find his footing after moving from Flushing to suburban Long Island in this spirited novel by Yang (I’m Not Here to Make Friends). After quitting piano and ping-pong, Felix searches for an essay topic that will impress his college admissions coach while also proving his parents “didn’t raise no quitter.” Inspired by his love of movies, Felix starts a classic film club and finds a fellow cinephile in Gaspard Pierre-Duluc, who reads as Black. They become fast friends and decide to film The Ping-Pong Queen of Chinatown, a movie inspired by high school senior Cassie Chow, who lives in Chinatown and with whom Felix has “a history of chance encounters”—including at the Rubenstein Center piano competition and the Citywide Table Tennis Championship. What starts as a ploy to stand out and befriend Cassie turns into a more complicated venture that depicts the sometimes-fraught relationship between the teens and their immigrant parents. Candid prose deftly articulates Felix’s inherent privilege as well as the ways in which Felix and Cassie’s class differences impact their friendship, home lives, and futures. Ages 13–up. Agent: Patrice Caldwell, New Leaf Literary.

May 15, 2024
High school junior Felix Ma has a transformative year while making a movie. Chinese American Felix is feeling pressured: According to his college admissions coach, he needs something unique to set himself apart, but he quit piano, and he's "not even the best Ping-Pong player at the Flushing Community Center." After Felix and new friend Gaspard Pierre-Duluc become the school film club's co-presidents (as well as its only members), they decide to make a short film starring senior Cassie Chow. This project will not only help his college resume; it also gives Felix a reason to spend more time with a girl who intrigues him. But their potential friendship becomes complicated when the movie's plot starts to feel too closely inspired by Cassie, and Felix must confront and reflect on how he moves through the world. He's struggled since moving from Flushing to the suburbs of Long Island; Cassie is a reminder of the life he could have had, and her confidence forms a contrast to his own feelings of inadequacy. But by romanticizing Cassie's life, Felix ultimately doesn't truly see or listen to her. In this intimate narrative, Yang explores perception, consideration, storytelling ethics, and growing pains as Felix tries to make sense of his motivations and their impact. The resolution avoids being unrealistically neat, but the book ends on an optimistic note, and readers will clearly see Felix's trajectory. A compelling story of personal growth and new understanding. (Fiction. 13-18)

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June 14, 2024
Grades 8-12 What does the ideal college candidate look like? Probably not a high-school junior who is pretty good at piano and ping-pong and whose most notable "achievement" is quitting--that's Felix Ma. Cassie Chow, on the other hand, is driven, determined, and unbeatable--or so it seems to Felix. They first met at a piano competition in which she took first place over him in the final round. When they face off again, it seems as though every time Felix is on the cusp of greatness, Cassie is there to knock him down a few pegs. Their rivalry quickly shifts toward admiration when, at the suggestion of the college admissions counselor his parents hired, Felix sets out to make a movie to accomplish something for his applications. Cassie joins the project in the most natural role--leading lady--but the spotlight may be a bit too much. In the end, the real star of this book is friendship. Though Felix's first-person narration can occasionally be grating, the story offers a refreshing angle on relationships and self-discovery.

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August 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Felix Ma is an average high school junior. Following the advice of his college admissions coach Mr. Qin, Felix starts a film club at school, endeavoring to turn the activity into an extracurricular for his college applications. Felix makes a film with his school friend Gaspard featuring the Chinatown Ping-Pong Queen, Cassie Chow. Cassie is a high school senior growing up in Chinatown. Felix met Cassie when he participated in a piano tournament and the Chinatown ping-pong competition before he moved to suburban Great Neck, Long Island. Both Felix and Cassie find they have similar anxieties about fully meeting their parents' expectations. They both want to prove that they are neither losers nor quitters. Felix and Cassie become close friends as they meet regularly for filming in New York's Chinatown. During the filmmaking adventure, Felix and Cassie unexpectedly reveal their emotional scars from their parents. Felix also discovers truths about himself and realizes that he will have to decide whether to please his parents or lose Cassie, his closest friend. The novel depicts first-generation Chinese American kids who are caught between two cultures and their filial obligation to have great academic achievement. VERDICT Yang creates an extraordinarily rich cultural background in this beautifully written work. Recommended.-Anna Ching-Yu Wong

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