When Cici's parents declare they are moving to Seattle, Cici is devasted to be leaving behind her grandmother in Taiwan. The only thing that gives her hope is that her grandmother might visit soon -- perhaps even for her 70th birthday -- but her grandmother insists the flight is too costly. But when Cici stumbles upon a local cooking competition for kids with a $1,000 cash prize, she is convinced she can easily win the flight money with the culinary skills she learned from her grandmother. However, she soon sees that Asian cuisine isn't preferred by the competition's American judges. Will Cici be able to assimilate in her new home, make new friends, keep her grades high enough for her parents to be happy, and maybe, just maybe, earn the money needed to allow her grandmother to visit?

This was a really sweet and excellently executed book for upper elementary and middle grade readers (and even some lower elementary advanced readers). Cici is a good kid who tries to please her family but also wants to follow her own path. Her attempts at friendship are tentative at first and she worries that she will be teased for being un-American, but she and her friends soon learn they are more alike than different but also to appreciate those differences.

The cooking competition is surprisingly tense, even if it feels like you should know the outcome. If you really like cooking shows, I'm sure this is an even more compelling part of the book. It was definitely interesting enough for me, especially with hearing about all the interesting recipes the children come up with around a special ingredient each time. Truly, the only major downside of reading this book is that you will walk away hungry!

A minor quibble is that several bits of text (notably, the ingredients in recipes) are penciled in a cursive-style text, which may be something younger readers don't know well enough to decipher. All in all, however, this was definitely a fun and interesting book. The short chapters make you say to yourself, 'okay, just one more chapter,' until you are done before you know it. The illustrations fit the tone of the book well and help to tell the story. ( )

Equipped with her Taiwanese cooking knowledge, twelve-year-old recent immigrant Cici enters a kids' cooking contest with the hopes of winning the prize to buy a plane ticket so her grandmother can visit. This is a heartwarming graphic novel proves food always has a way of bringing people together no matter the distance.

( )

7/10 ( )

Cici desperately wants to see her grandmother again, but plane tickets from Taiwan to Seattle are expensive. She decides to enter a cooking competition and use the winnings to fund her grandmother's trip.

Measuring Up is an enjoyable novel about a girl trying to live up to family expectations and at the same time, find where she fits in, even though she doesn't understand life in this country. Cici is very relatable and easy to like as are the other characters. This graphic novel includes many themes that are well developed throughout the book. Overall, Measuring Up is an easy, fun graphic novel that teaches several lessons. ( )

Measuring Up

I Picked Up This Book Because: I saw it on social media but can’t remember where.

Media Type: eBook
Source: CC Public Library
Dates Read: 2/18/23 - 2/25/23
Stars: 4
Narrator(s):

The Characters:

Cici:
Cici’s parents. A-ma, new friends and Miranda

The Story:

Cici and her family have moved to America from Taiwan and now she has to traverse a whole new world while missing her A-ma (grandmother) dearly. She decides to help bring her grandmother for a visit by entering a cooking contest. This leads to a ton of new experiences.

This story highlights a multitude of experiences you can have as a young person and the insecurities and fears you can face. It also shows the value of the love and support you can have from close family and friends. ( )