Measuring Up
By John Sooja,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Taiwanese girl drives fast-paced, tasty cooking drama.
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What's the Story?
In MEASURING UP, Cici and her parents move to the United States so Cici can have better "education opportunities." Her parents demand that good grades lead to a good college, which leads to a good job, and then a good life. But Cici has a plan to make everyone happy, and it has to do with cooking. She just needs to balance keeping her grades up, learning new cooking techniques, her new friends, school, and not giving away her secret plan -- to win a cooking contest and use the prize money to bring her grandmother to the United States. Will she be able to do it all?
Is It Any Good?
Cici's journey in this quick and sweet graphic novel is straightforward but satisfying. Measuring Up features a strong girl lead in Taiwanese Cici, and her parents, while falling into the stereotype of the Asian "Tiger Parents," clearly work hard to give Cici every opportunity. The story doesn't serve up too much of a challenge, but there's something pleasant about its structure as it bounces from cooking competition to school to friends to home life and back around again. Each new cooking test features new ingredients, new ways of cooking, and new dishes. As Cici gets closer to her goals, the stakes ramp up a bit, with her deciding to lie about a B+ grade on a math test, which leads to her father canceling her involvement in the cooking competition. But the motivation for why Cici is so desperate to accomplish her goals remains unquestioned throughout, and this grounds Cici and her story in the importance and warmth of family, good friends, and good food.
This graphic novel might really speak to immigrant and/or Asian American kids dealing with the kinds of daily social and school-related challenges that Cici has to face. Like worrying over having friends or anyone over to her home, not being able to do "American things" like sleepovers, or preferring to eat boiled dumplings, pickled cucumbers, and oil rice over "American food" like cheese puffs, butter, bread, or spaghetti. Cici ends up exploring different but similar culinary cultures and traditions, as well as discovering herself.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the challenges Cici's family faces in Measuring Up, and what immigrant families and kids face generally in the United States. What does Cici worry about? What does she worry about her new friends finding out?
Do the racist moments in the story feel accurate? Why might this be important? What other books and graphic novels have you read that deal with racism? Did they do a good job?
How or why did Miranda start to like Cici? Likewise, what made Cici begin to like Miranda? Can you think of other differences between people that are actually also similarities?
Book Details
- Author: Lily LaMotte
- Illustrator: Ann Xu
- Genre: Graphic Novel
- Topics: Cooking and Baking, Friendship, Middle School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperAlley
- Publication date: October 27, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 208
- Available on: Paperback, Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: September 28, 2021
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Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Graphic Novels
Books with Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Characters
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