Name: Angelfish
ISBN: 9780399230417

Laurence Yep

Robin, a young ballet dancer who is half Chinese and half white, works in a fish store for Mr. Tsow, a brusque Chinese who accuses her of being a half-person and who harbors a bitter secret.

Angelfish

Sarah Sammis

In Angelfish by Laurence Yep, Robin is half Chinese and feels out of place. She loves to dance ballet but she's going to spend her summer working a tropical fish store after she accidentally breaks the shops's front window. The biggest problem though, is the shop's owner is grumpy, old and fiercely traditional. He doesn't see a place in the world for a girl like Robin.

As with so many of Yep's novel, the central theme is the coming together of different generations. As they learn from each other a friendship grows hesitantly that benefits not just Robin and Mr. Tsow but the rest of the neighborhood.

Mr. Tsow has hidden, unused artist talents that he has given up to run the shop. His friendship with Robin gives him a chance to express himself by helping out at the dance studio and in other ways.

It took a little while to get into the book because of all the prejudice both on Robin's part and on Mr. Tsow's part. But as the novel unfolds the reasons behind these preconceived notions come to light. These are problems across not only generations and cultures but regions and languages (Cantonese vs Mandarin).

Despite the rough start where I wasn't sure I'd like or understand either Robin or Mr. Tsow, I ended up loving the book.