By Vera Anusasananan Cuomo, 11 years old, San Francisco, California
Finally Seen by Kelly Yang is a book about a 10-year-old girl named Lina who lives with her grandma in China. After not seeing her family in five years, Lina has finally come to America to see them again. This is her first time in America, and she is nervous for what might happen at her new school with new people in a new country. And it’s not quite like what her mother described in the letters she sent. Unlike the letters, they live in an apartment, not a big blue house, and their plan to help with the rent seems … unsettling. Lina is experiencing lots of emotions, but she tries to hide them at school and home. Because of a new book assignment, she decides to face her fears so she can finally be seen and finally make people notice her.
Finally Heard is the sequel to Finally Seen. Lina’s mother goes viral, and Lina’s excited to finally be noticed and listened to by her peers. Her two best friends are Carla and Finn. She has a little sister named Millie. When Lina starts helping her mother, she watches videos of people doing skin care or makeup and begins to worry about how others see her. After talking to her classmates, she learns about group chats and disappearing messages or videos. The kids would take advantage of the disappearing messages to bully others and make fun of them with no evidence left behind. The more videos Lina watches of people telling you what products you should use, the more she has to keep herself from caring about likes and comments on the videos she makes.
I connect to Lina because we both have sisters. If you have siblings, I recommend Finally Heard and Finally Seen. I also liked these books because I didn’t relate to them. It gave me a glimpse into someone else’s story about moving to a new country. I really enjoyed this book and would rate it a 10 out of 10. Since I am the same age as Lina, it really helped me connect with the books. I recommend the series to kids around ages 10 and 11. I hope this convinces you to go to your local library or bookstore and pick up Kelly Yang’s Finally Seen and Finally Heard.
