In the Beautiful Country

by Jane Kuo

Overview

For fans of Jasmine Warga and Thanhhà Lại, this is a stunning novel in verse about a young Taiwanese immigrant to America who is confronted by the stark difference between dreams and reality.

Anna can’t wait to move to the beautiful country—the Chinese name for America. Although she’s only ever known life in Taiwan, she can’t help but brag about the move to her family and friends.

But the beautiful country isn’t anything like Anna pictured. Her family can only afford a cramped apartment, she’s bullied at school, and she struggles to understand a new language. On top of that, the restaurant that her parents poured their savings into is barely staying afloat. The version of America that Anna is experiencing is nothing like she imagined. How will she be able to make the beautiful country her home?

This lyrical and heartfelt story, inspired by the author’s own experiences, is about resilience, courage, and the struggle to make a place for yourself in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063118980
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/28/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	145,306
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jane Kuo is a Chinese and Taiwanese American writer who grew up in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Jane's novels, In the Beautiful Country and Land of Broken Promises are fictional stories inspired by the weekends and summers she spent working in her family's fast food restaurant. Please visit her online at www.janekuo.com. 

Editorial Reviews

07/25/2022

Kuo debuts with a pensive novel in verse centering a Taiwanese girl grappling with a new life in America. On the cusp of her 11th birthday in 1980, Zhang Ai Shi leaves behind the only place she’s ever known—along with all the people, places, and food that she loves—to move with her mother from Taipei to Duarte, California, and join her father to co-run a small fast-food restaurant. Their new home is in “the beautiful country,” as America is translated in Chinese, but it doesn’t feel beautiful, and it definitely doesn’t feel like home. As she works to familiarize herself with unfamiliar language, surroundings, and traditions, Ai Shi grapples for joy and comfort amid increasingly upsetting changes, including instances of classism, school bullies, and vandals attacking the family’s struggling new business as well as leveling racist slurs. Together, Ai Shi’s family must find a way to adjust while holding on to their memories and to each other. Employing a reflective tone and sincere lines that capture the heartbreak of leaving home alongside a clear portrayal of the family’s varied experiences, Kuo paints a vivid story of interpersonal bonds and persistence that also touches on nuances of navigating shared Taiwanese and Chinese ancestry. Ages 8–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Vivid, heartbreaking, and hopeful in all the right ways.

Gene Luen Yang

★ 04/01/2022

Gr 5 Up—A beautifully written novel in verse about finding your way in the world. Set in 1980, Ai Shi/Anna, a Taiwanese girl, moves with her parents to California—or as they call it, the beautiful country. Anna is thrilled to be moving, until she arrives and learns that life in California isn't what she expected. She is the only Asian student at school, and the kids bully her for being different. Her parents put all their money into a fast food restaurant that is costing them more than they make, especially with reoccurring vandalism. What started as a big dream may actually be a big mistake. Kuo doesn't shy away from the hardships, but presents them in a suitable manner for the target audience. The racism that Anna and her parents experience is very relevant today, with some of the depictions (pulling at eyelids and reciting racist rhymes) likely to cause discomfort. This book is a work of fiction, but is inspired by Kuo and her family's immigration to the United States. While Anna was born in Taiwan, her father is Chinese, and she discovers what it means to be from both places during that time. Anna's story is a true journey, and Kuo skillfully breaks it into parts that allow readers to think and reflect on each piece before moving ont VERDICT A moving historical fiction book that is valuable for all readers and belongs in libraries and classrooms.—Amanda Borgia

School Library Journal

2022-03-29
A Taiwanese family tries their luck in America.

In this verse novel, it’s 1980, and nearly 11-year-old Ai Shi and her mother prepare to leave Taipei to join her father in California, where he is pursuing a business opportunity with a friend. The extended family send them off, telling Ai Shi she’s so lucky to go to the “beautiful country”—the literal translation of the Chinese name for the U.S. Once they are reunited with Ba, he reveals that they have instead poured their savings into a restaurant in the remote Los Angeles County town of Duarte. Ma and Ba need to learn to cook American food, but at least, despite a betrayal by Ba’s friend, they have their own business. However, the American dream loses its shine as language barriers, isolation, financial stress, and racism take their toll. Ai Shi internalizes her parents’ disappointment in their new country by staying silent about bullying at school and her own unmet needs. Her letters home to her favorite cousin, Mei, maintain that all is well. After a year of enduring unrelenting challenges, including vandalism by local teens, the family reaches its breaking point. Hope belatedly arrives in the form of community allies and a change of luck. Kuo deftly touches on complex issues, such as the human cost of the history between China and Taiwan as well as the socio-economic prejudices and identity issues within Asian American communities.

A powerfully candid and soulful account of an immigrant experience. (Verse historical fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews

"Vivid, heartbreaking, and hopeful in all the right ways.” — Gene Luen Yang, award-winning author of American Born Chinese

“Beautifully written. A moving historical fiction book that is valuable for all readers.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Deftly touches on complex issues. A powerfully candid and soulful account of an immigrant experience.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Anna’s candid first-person narrative makes this first novel an absorbing and ultimately moving book.” — Booklist

“Emotional. Full of vivid imagery.” — Horn Book Magazine

"Kuo paints a vivid story of interpersonal bonds and persistence.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher