American Panda

By: Gloria Chao

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

At 17, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents' master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can't bring herself to tell them the truth - that she (one) hates germs, (two) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (three) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

From debut author Gloria Chao comes a hilarious, heartfelt tale of how unlike the panda, life isn't always so black and white.

©2018 Gloria Chao (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Charmed my socks off." (David Arnold, New York Times best-selling author of Kids of Appetite and Mosquitoland)

"A soulful and hilarious debut." ( Booklist, starred review)

"Effervescent." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"An earnest, funny, and emotional story." ( Book Riot)

Enjoyed it!

This was a quick, easy enjoyable book!
Mei was a great character and would to see a sequel!

Very Good! 4.75 Stars

This book actually surprised me. It was much much better than I expected. The narration was a perfect complement to the story.

Mash of two cultures

This audio book is extremely good. Mei is a 17 year old girl that is heading to MIT. Men's mother and father (Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu) has planned out her life ALL her life. Now that she is at MIT though, Mei feels like an outcast compared to the colorful cast of characters. Like always. Her mother is forcing Mei to get a major in biology, become a respectful doctor, marry a Taiwanese doctor, and "pump out a litter of Taiwanese babies." Unfortunately , Mei wishes to get a major in buisness, open a dance studio, and maybe even get with Daren. The cute anime-looking classmate in which Me I had been crushing on. But he isn't Taiwanese. Mei is having a whirlwind of emotions, how is she going to tell her parents she doesn't want to be the perfect daugtour. But she disappoint her parents like Shing. Shing is her brother who decided to not marry a Taiwanese. Instead marrying a girl who didn't have tiger parents, dyed her hair, and might not be fertile. He was cut off. Me I doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know how to get a biology degree when it puts her too sleep. She doesn't know how to become of doctor when she is super queasy and hated germs. She doesn't know how to fit in when she is a year younger. She doesn't know how to be with Daren when her mother doesn't approve because Daren isn't Taiwanese. And she especially doesn't know how to mash two cultures together.

My opinion: This book might not be for 7th graders or lower. It has a missing seace. It also has a few bad words and talks about some things that might now be appropriate. It is a very good novel. It depends on who is listening. You can decided if you want to listen to it.

Grab some hot chocolate & get cozy!

This book gave me all the warm and fuzzies. It was one of those books I didn't want to stop listening to even though I got to my destination. The characters in this book feel so real from their experiences and what they go through. I loved the format of having voicemails from her mother in the middle of each chapter, it made me tear up because that really is what it feels like to get a voicemail from a worried mother. I loved this book!

She Was Just Seventeen! (I Loved This One Alot.)

So much more than just cute or sweet, this book made me feel so many emotions--sadness, anger, frustration, joy, peace, happiness, amusement--all interspersed with humor that made me unable to hide my laughter at times. It combined a cultural clash, a coming-of-age story, a young girl's first venture out into a world that was not totally controlled by her immigrant Chinese family, and a first romance all occuring at MIT university. I was so happy to see that the protagonist was not put into a stereotypical role and could explore other options.

The narrator was perfection (don't listen to the naysayers!) She expressed appropriate emotion according to what was needed, especially when Mei used her "man laugh." There couldn't have been a better narrator IMHO.

If cultural issues and young adult stories are your cup of tea, this book is most likely going to entertain you a great deal. Go for it!

Excellent Listen!

This book was picked up as a daily deal. It was a bargain at any price!!

The story was rich, and beautiful, and powerful, and enlightening, and warm, and funny, and most of all, a triumph. Everyone in the story, from the main character Mei, to her brother, her love interest, and her parents, were all in a struggle to succeed against all odds. It worked for some, not so much for others,

Through it all there was some incredibly special narration. There were so many different energies to portray and it was simply amazing to witness the vocal dexterity of Zeller. This was an excellent listen!

conflicts

drifted at times. I understood what she was trying to convey. interesting but boring

Chinese Culture and Beliefs

American Panda is an endearing story revolving around American-Chinese people and the clash of American freedoms with ancient Chinese traditions, especially in 2nd generation Chinese.

I love the culture of Asian history

I really do love the culture and history of Asia and here in America. I have read many different both modern and historical Asian history books. Although this is fiction, it still has a lot of truth to it. A wonderful lesson and enjoyable to hear the story of someone fighting to be themselves and authentic.

Loved the story

As an Asian American woman myself, this was very relatable. I enjoyed it and want more!!!