In mostly short, punchy chapters, Maizy Chen's Last Chance tells the story of a feisty 5th generation American girl of Chinese-descent who travels from her home in L.A. to spend her 11th summer in Last Chance, Minnesota. There she helps her grandmother (Oma) and mother care for her ailing grandfather (Opa) and run the family's Chinese restaurant.
The Golden Palace, it turns out, was established by Maizy's great-great-grandfather Lucky in the 1870s. As you can imagine, there's a lot of family history tied up in the place, and Opa delights in relaying the story—slowly and in small chunks—of Lucky's immigration to San Francisco, early work on the transcontinental railroad, and (through a whole series of experiences) his emigrating to Last Chance, where he (and eventually his bride) began his family's legacy.
And that legacy is about far more than a restaurant. The book becomes in essence two stories in one. The stories of Lucky's experiences of racist bigotry from some and kindness from others—and, in turn, his care for other immigrants (especially Chinese "paper sons")—becomes the lens through which we view Maizy's own experiences that summer.
Like Lucky's, some of those experiences are hard: as Opa's health declines, she observes the tension between her mother and Oma, misjudges some of the locals while learning about her own prejudices, and is directly impacted by racism as the restaurant's mascot (a carved bear) is both stolen and vandalized. All of this drives the (sometimes preachy) messaging of the book.
But this story is not about complaints. As Maizy spends time in Last Chance and around its residents, and as she learns of her own family's part in its history, her intelligent sleuthing, determination to right wrongs, and pithy observations slipped inside the restaurant's fortune cookies make her an integral part in solving a mystery, encouraging reconciliations, and connecting past to present.
Ultimately, while Maizy's family does experience loss, grief is not the focus of the ending. A sort of triumph and sense of joyful optimism pervade, as her research into the history of paper sons brings a Chinese community together.
Now for the content considerations: this book includes real (not perceived) racism, bullying, and deceit by authorities, mentions kids drinking alcohol (not favorably), and has Maizy playing poker with Opa, but these things propel the story in important ways. The book definitely has a political bias and the bias is pretty overt. I found myself in sympathy with much of it, but there are two instances when I felt it pushed things a little too far.
The first was on page 140 when a friend writes to Maizy and mentions the 2017 Muslim travel ban (though it does not mention Trump by name). The comment is very brief, but connected with some of the other racist things mentioned there, it felt harsh and unnuanced.
The second is on pages 218-19, when Maizy learns that one of the local men is married to another man. It's not pushy (she basically drags the information out of him) and that's essentially the end of it, but when Maizy asks why he wants to "make the bigots feel comfortable" and encourages him to "put a ring on it," the author makes it clear that she considers a biblical view of sexuality a form of bigotry equal to racism . . . a stance with which I obviously disagree.
I hope these don't discourage you from this book! On the whole, I found it an eye-opening and compassionate perspective on immigration and racism, one I enjoyed immensely.
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