The Situation: Bao Nguyen and Linh Mai have a lot in common. They are both children of Vietnamese immigrants who settled in Orange County, California. They attend the same high school, and even both spend much of their free time helping their parents out at their businesses. Both the Nguyens and the Mais own Vietnamese restaurants that specialize mostly in pho, but also serve other Vietnamese dishes, drinks, and desserts. And though the two restaurants are situated right across the street from one another, Bao and Linh do not know each other at all. Aside from a vague memory from when they were kids, they two of them cannot recall ever having a real interaction. It is only when Bao sees an overwhelmed Linh sitting outside of her parents' restaurant that he works up the courage to approach her and offer his assistance. While she accepts the help, it is agreed he must stay out of her parents' view...it would not look good for the son of the restaurant owners across the street to be helping out the competition.
The Problem: If Linh's parents knew the Nguyen boy had helped out on a crucial night at the restaurant, they would accuse the Nguyen's of sending over a spy. And Bao's parents would be furious that their son assisted the competition in having a successful service. The two families have done everything they could to avoid each other, even warning their children to stay away from each other. It is almost as if even Bao and Linh's high school were in on the plot, as the two of them have never had a class together. But now that they have met, their paths continue to cross, and each one must acknowledge that they like having the other one around, a lot. Soon, the act of keeping their parents in the dark as to who they are hanging out with becomes too much, and Linh starts to feel the pressure as the lies keep piling up. It is bad enough she has been hiding her love of art and painting, knowing her parents would never approve. It is only after a chance encounter with an old family friend that she gets a hint that this feud is about more than competing restaurants, and goes way deeper than either Bao or Linh ever knew.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult book set in and around modern day Orange County, California. Bao and Linh are high school seniors, doing their best to stay focused on schoolwork, while also making time for helping out at their respective families' restaurants. For Linh, this also means finding extra time to focus on her painting, even entering a scholarship competition, and working on various art projects throughout the novel. Bao admits himself to be somewhat aimless, and is surprised when during his journalism elective, he realizes he actually likes to edit, and write. With both Bao and Linh telling the story in alternating chapters, the reader gets to see inside both families' restaurants, and meet both sets of parents. The real reasons for the feud appears to be buried by time, until the children take it upon themselves to uncover the truth. But can the families ever move past this? And will their children ever have a chance at a real relationship?
My Verdict: While I may not be a fan of Romeo and Juliet, I am always curious to see how other writers handle the whole feuding families plotline. The way Le has Bao and Linh meet is wonderful, especially since it stems from one making the conscious effort to offer a helping hand. This provides a great insight into who Bao is as a person, and the relationship grows from there. The reader is introduced to both the Nguyens and the Mais, and because each family owns a restaurant, there is much talk about food, and the work that goes into running a family business. The characters are likable enough, and the plot moves at a decent pace, though the book may be about 50 pages longer than it needs to be. Also, in my experience, it is rare to find a mechanical error in a finished, published, novel. But there they were - quite a few of them - and it was weird. They did not help the often confusing flow of the dialogue, and it was often hard to keep track of who was in the room, and which narrator was speaking, as Bao and Linh have similar narrative voices.
Favorite Moment: From the beginning, I knew this book would make me hungry every time I picked it up, and that was almost the case. The near-constant mention of pho and other Vietnamese dishes was delightful, but also bad for someone trying to spend less money on eating out.
Favorite Character: Ms. Yamamoto is Linh's art teacher, and never stops encouraging her student to continue in what she loves, despite the obstacles.
Recommended Reading: I recommend Frankly in Love by David Yoon, another YA novel that deals with young love and parental expectations.
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