Our Wayward Fate
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
"More than a coming-of-age novel." —School Library Journal
"[An] inventive, deeply heartfelt love story that explores connections of many kinds." —Booklist
A teen outcast is simultaneously swept up in a whirlwind romance and down a rabbit hole of dark family secrets when another Taiwanese family moves to her small, predominantly white midwestern town in this remarkable novel from the critically acclaimed author of American Panda.
Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the mountain in Taiwan.
Her autopilot existence is disrupted when she finds out that Chase Yu, the new kid in school, is also Taiwanese. Despite some initial resistance due to the "they belong together" whispers, Ali and Chase soon spark a chemistry rooted in competitive martial arts, joking in two languages, and, most importantly, pushing back against the discrimination they face.
But when Ali's mom finds out about the relationship, she forces Ali to end it. As Ali covertly digs into the why behind her mother's disapproval, she uncovers secrets about her family and Chase that force her to question everything she thought she knew about life, love, and her unknowable future.
Snippets of a love story from 19th-century China (a retelling of the Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers) are interspersed with Ali's narrative and intertwined with her fate.
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Gloria Chao. (2019). Our Wayward Fate. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Gloria Chao. 2019. Our Wayward Fate. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Gloria Chao, Our Wayward Fate. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019.
MLA Citation (style guide)Gloria Chao. Our Wayward Fate. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019.
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 1 | 1 |
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- value: forbidden romance
- value: #weneeddiversebooks
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- value: jenny han
- value: Lara Jean
- value: To all the Boys I've loved before
- value: Lana Condor
- value: Noah Centineo
- value: indie next
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- value: best audiobooks for teens
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- bioText: Gloria Chao is the critically acclaimed author of American Panda, Our Wayward Fate, and Rent a Boyfriend. When she's not writing, you can find her with her husband on the curling ice or hiking the Indiana Dunes. She does not regret putting aside her MIT and dental degrees to write, and she is grateful to spend her days in fictional characters' heads instead of real people's mouths. Visit her tea-and-book-filled world at GloriaChao.Wordpress.com and find her on Twitter and Instagram @GloriaCChao.
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- fullDescription
- "A story that's sure to stick with you for a long time." —BuzzFeed
"More than a coming-of-age novel." —School Library Journal
"[An] inventive, deeply heartfelt love story that explores connections of many kinds." —Booklist
A teen outcast is simultaneously swept up in a whirlwind romance and down a rabbit hole of dark family secrets when another Taiwanese family moves to her small, predominantly white midwestern town in this remarkable novel from the critically acclaimed author of American Panda.
Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the mountain in Taiwan.
Her autopilot existence is disrupted when she finds out that Chase Yu, the new kid in school, is also Taiwanese. Despite some initial resistance due to the "they belong together" whispers, Ali and Chase soon spark a chemistry rooted in competitive martial arts, joking in two languages, and, most importantly, pushing back against the discrimination they face.
But when Ali's mom finds out about the relationship, she forces Ali to end it. As Ali covertly digs into the why behind her mother's disapproval, she uncovers secrets about her family and Chase that force her to question everything she thought she knew about life, love, and her unknowable future.
Snippets of a love story from 19th-century China (a retelling of the Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers) are interspersed with Ali's narrative and intertwined with her fate. - gradeLevels
- value: Grade 4
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- reviews
- premium: True
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- content:
August 15, 2019
When the new student in town happens be Taiwanese just like her, Ali Chu's world is turned upside down--and not in the ways she might have imagined. Ali is used to being different: Since moving to Indiana, she's been the only Asian in her whole school. Her classmates can't pronounce her name, and she has to drive to another town for kung fu lessons--where she's still the only Asian. Things aren't much better at home, with parents who won't address any of their problems or family secrets. Instead, they don't talk at all. Then Chase Yu arrives, and suddenly Ali has someone who understands her jokes and has her back when she stands up to teachers. The problem of Ali's family remains. To move forward, Ali has to uncover what their past means for her future. Chao (American Panda, 2018) brings readers a witty protagonist who breaks stereotypes of Chinese Americans by simply being herself. At the same time, she faces problems, including casual racism and balancing commitments to family and self, that she experiences in culturally specific ways. Interspersed throughout are scenes from "The Butterfly Lovers," a folktale that at first seems a perplexing addition to Ali's story but becomes relevant in the end. A spirited novel exploring the clash between Midwestern America and the expectations of immigrant parents. (note about Mandarin, author's note) (Fiction. 13-18)COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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September 1, 2019
Gr 8 Up-Ali Chu knows the key to survival is not saying what's on her mind-at home where her parents act like strangers toward her and each other, and at school where she is the only Asian person. So what if no one can pronounce her name and people made fun of the Chinese food she used to bring for lunch, at least she has friends with whom to eat her disgusting peanut butter sandwiches. She is content to merely survive until she goes to college-until she discovers a new kid has started at school. He's cute, Asian, and may be the answer to questions Ali didn't even know she needed to ask. However, when Ali's mother forbids her from spending time with Chase, will she be able to go back to just surviving or will she discover the freedom that comes from not holding her tongue? This is more than a coming-of-age novel, and readers will fall in love with Ali. Chao includes Chinese within the story with perfect context but no translation, allowing readers to embrace what Ali may have felt as she converses in daily life. The settings and interactions feel real, and the alienation and parental conflict she and others experience is relatable. Chao also weaves in her take on a traditional Chinese myth, an interesting perspective on what might seem like a "typical" teen love story. VERDICT A great purchase for school and public libraries looking to enhance their modern YA fiction collections.-DeHanza Kwong, Butte Public Library, MT
Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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September 23, 2019
As the sole Asian-American at her small-town Indiana high school, Taiwanese-American Ali Chu is used to playing unperturbed in order to fit in, letting microaggressions go uncontested, and eschewing engagement with her culture in front of her white friends. But when Chase Yu moves to Plainhart from Flushing, N.Y., Ali questions her complacency, finding in him an ally, a kung fu sparring partner, and a boyfriend. Ali believes Chase’s Taiwanese-American identity should please her difficult mother, so she’s surprised when her mother insists that Ali break up with him. Family friends Ali doesn’t remember, a long-lost relative on the Chus’ doorstep, and Chase’s own mysterious past complicate the narrative, and Ali has her work cut out for her as she investigates her family’s enigmas. Chao (American Panda) treads familiar paths in regards to intergenerational miscommunication between immigrant parents and their children, but a reinterpretation of a classic Chinese romantic tragedy, “The Butterfly Lovers,” and the perspective of a park freshen the novel with varying degrees of success. Though readers versed in Asian-American literature will recognize some well-worn dynamics, this contemporary romance will find likely find appreciative readers. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary.
- premium: True
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September 15, 2019
Grades 8-11 As the only Asian student at her very white Indiana high school, Ali has learned to blend. She keeps her head down when classmates and teachers casually make hurtful or offensive comments, like pronouncing her name Allie instead of Ah-lee or thinking she's great at math. When Chase, who's also Taiwanese American, starts at school, Ali is annoyed but not surprised when people just assume they'll date. She is surprised, though, when she actually does find herself attracted to Chase, their common experiences providing a foundation that quickly blooms into a romance. But when Ali's overbearing, emotionally distant mother reacts poorly to their relationship, Ali digs into her family's history and her parents' own fractured marriage. Interspersed with Ali's story is a retelling of the Chinese folktale The Butterfly Lovers, another story about a young woman creating her own identity. A slow-moving beginning soon gives way to a faster paced back half in this inventive, deeply heartfelt love story that explores connections of many kinds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
- premium: True
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- content:
January 1, 2020
Seventeen-year-old Taiwanese American girl Ali Chu has grown up in a predominantly white Midwestern town; she has learned to survive school (where she is known as Allie) by blending in and being "as dry as white toast." Yet as new people enter her life--a childhood friend she doesn't remember, a new Taiwanese American classmate, and a great-uncle she never knew existed--things begin to change. After uncovering family secrets and confronting painful truths, Ali eventually exits survival mode, ditching "Allie" and beginning to live life as her true self, "100 percent Ali." Ali's first-person narration employs colloquial, authentic teen language. The absence of a glossary for the Mandarin vocabulary in the book requires readers to experience, like Ali, what it is like to grow up in a family speaking a different language in the home. Also noteworthy is Chao's inclusion of a retelling of the famous Chinese "Butterfly Lovers" legend; the retelling is parsed out between chapters, providing valuable insight into Ali's culture.(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
- premium: True
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- content:
January 1, 2020
Seventeen-year-old Taiwanese American girl Ali (�?h-l�?e) Chu has grown up in a predominantly white Midwestern town; she has learned to survive school (where she is known as Allie) by blending in and being "as dry as white toast." Yet as new people enter her life�? a childhood friend she doesn't remember, a new Taiwanese American classmate, and a great-uncle she never knew existed�? things begin to change. After uncovering family secrets and confronting painful truths, Ali eventually exits survival mode, ditching "Allie" and beginning to live life as her true self, "100 percent Ali." Ali's first-person narration employs colloquial, authentic teen language. The absence of a glossary for the Mandarin vocabulary in the book requires readers to experience, like Ali, what it is like to grow up in a family speaking a different language in the home. Also noteworthy is Chao's inclusion of a retelling of the famous Chinese "Butterfly Lovers" legend; the retelling is parsed out between chapters, providing valuable insight into Ali's culture. Weileen Wang(Copyright 2020 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
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"More than a coming-of-age novel." —School Library Journal
"[An] inventive, deeply heartfelt love story that explores connections of many kinds." —Booklist
A teen outcast is simultaneously swept up in a whirlwind romance and down a rabbit hole of dark family secrets when another Taiwanese family moves to her small, predominantly white midwestern town in this remarkable novel from the critically acclaimed author of American Panda.
Seventeen-year-old Ali Chu knows that as the only Asian person at her school in middle-of-nowhere Indiana, she must be bland as white toast to survive. This means swapping her congee lunch for PB&Js, ignoring the clueless racism from her classmates and teachers, and keeping her mouth shut when people wrongly call her Allie instead of her actual name, pronounced Āh-lěe, after the... - sortTitle
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