"The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

1) a) Bibliography:
Tan, A. (1989). The Joy Luck Club. New York: Penguin Group, 288 pp.
b) Genre and Awards: Asian American Fiction and Literature
Finalist National Book Award
Finalist National Book Critics Circle Award
Finalist Los Angeles Time Fiction Prize
Bay Area Book Reviewers Award
Commonwealth Gold Award
American Library Associations's Notable Books
American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults
Selected for the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read

2) Synopsis: Four Chinese mothers that are immigrants to the US tell their stories. We also hear their daughter's stories growing up American, with such heritage. My problem with this book was that it seemed to give all the mothers a stereotype. Instead of showing them to all be complicated women, they seemed to all be the same, with dark pasts, secrets, and cold exteriors. They were also very rude to each other, and to their daughters, which was passed off as being "Chinese." I didn't think this was a good thing, at all. The sad part to me was that of all the mother/daughter pairs, none of them had a good loving relationship. Most of the daughters didn't even know their mothers, or their stories. If they left China to escape their horrible pasts, I would hope that at least one of these women would have taken the opportunity to pass on their heritage, while hoping for an intimate bond with their daughter.

3) a) Characterization:as I said before, the characters all ran together for me. I kept having to check the chapter list at the front of the book to make sure I remembered which Mother went with which daughter. I don't think I ever got it straight.
b) Plot: Dealing with rich heritage meshing in modern America. The Moms want their daughters to be Chinese, when the whole reason they immigrated here was to escape their past. this is a lesson in learning how to combine the two.
c) Theme: Being comfortable in your own skin. Embracing culture.
d) Setting: San Fransisco, California and China
e) Style and Effectiveness: The style mixes old Chinese proverbs at the beginning of each chapter with personal narratives from the 8 main characters.
f) Value and Concerns: Value of Chinese heritage. No concerns for this one. I don't think boys would be in to this book at all. I probably wouldn't make them get through it.
g) Needs of Adolescents: THe mother/daughter relationship can be very tricky. However, I don't think the solution was ever presented. For one of the daughters, her mother died before she ever got the chance to fix things, so maybe that is the point...
h) Multicultural Issues: rich with Chinese heritage, traditions, and culture. This is what makes the novel what it is.

4) Possible Classroom Uses: group reading, literature circle, on my shelf. I wouldn't use it as a read aloud, nor would I teach it to an entire class. I would recommend it for a group that was interested.

5) Appropriate Age Range: 12 and up. The story is mostly about adult women and their crazy moms. I wouldn't consider this young adult literature at all. I think it might seem irrelevant to high school age and younger, but maybe I am wrong.

6) Personal Reaction:
ummm, I feel bad saying this, but I just didn't like it. I understand the mothers came from a different culture, but how could every single one of them have horrible relationships with thier daughters. They refused to communicate, and tried to make their daughters figure things out for themselves, then get mad and pouty when the daughters didn't do exactly what they wanted them to. I'm sorry, but every single character in this book got on my nerves. They just didn't seem realistic. Guess that's it. I feel guilty for bashing this book...I think maybe I have done so much reading in such a short time, I am becoming more and more critical.