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readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
4.0
Loved meeting Cilla. Readers will fall in love with her humor and witty way of looking at life. Young readers will have a lot of connections to the realistic experiences in this wonderful story.
little_hapa_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
This book has heart, humor, and perfectly captures the joy and struggles of growing up mixed race. Finally, a spunky young heroine who looks like me! ❤️
erinfrancis02's review against another edition
4.0
I read this with my 8 year old niece and it was ADORABLE! We had such a fun time reading this book.
mslibrarynerd's review against another edition
3.0
Cute and sassy cilla navigates the trials of a new sibling on the way. Did not really finish.
kaypat23's review against another edition
5.0
Rating
5 beautiful stars.
What is it about?
This is a middle grade book about a young biracial girl named Precilla Lee-Jenkins. Half Chinese, Half Caucasian, All-Round Excellent Author (according to her!). The book has authentic, cute pencil illustrations and consists of confessional journal entries written by Cilla which she hopes to publish someday in a bestselling book. A heartwarming read with a spunky, energetic heroine with big dreams and a big heart.
My thoughts
This is the book I wish I had read as a child. I can’t tell you HOW MANY TIMES I SOBBED and it wasn’t even a sad book! I just got so emotional seeing the subtle racism Cilla faces as a child and she was just too young to even understand it but she could tell that people were being rude to her. In the book, she experiences people asking about her race and where she truly came from or being confused about her looks and heritage, tokenizing her. Thank goodness her parents and her grandparents always show her that no matter what people say, they love her.
I just felt so loved and seen reading about Cilla. It’s clear that her parents and grandparents love her very much. I never got the chance to unite both sides of my family as a biracial child but seeing Cilla make peace with her Chinese and Caucasian grandparents puts a huge smile on my face. Cilla embraces her unique heritage at the end. In her words, she herself is unique and she doesn’t have to fit into one box. I can picture so many other biracial children relating hard to this and it is wonderful that they don’t have to hide who they are.
Reading this made me feel so warm inside. My inner child would have loved to be Cilla’s friend. In a way, she reminded me of myself at a young age: enthusiastic reader, dreaming big and wanting to be an author. I loved reading about her struggles, her grit and her determination. She faces bullies with grace, learns how to be a considerate friend, overcomes reading disorder (she was a very slow reader) and protects her baby sister. It felt like I was healing somewhat when I saw her receiving the love, support and friendship that I never got. This book is a children’s book but it was very meaningful to me because for a moment, I was in a very good place reading it. I wasn’t ashamed of my heritage or hating myself so I can’t tell you how grateful I am that this book exists.
5 beautiful stars.
What is it about?
This is a middle grade book about a young biracial girl named Precilla Lee-Jenkins. Half Chinese, Half Caucasian, All-Round Excellent Author (according to her!). The book has authentic, cute pencil illustrations and consists of confessional journal entries written by Cilla which she hopes to publish someday in a bestselling book. A heartwarming read with a spunky, energetic heroine with big dreams and a big heart.
My thoughts
This is the book I wish I had read as a child. I can’t tell you HOW MANY TIMES I SOBBED and it wasn’t even a sad book! I just got so emotional seeing the subtle racism Cilla faces as a child and she was just too young to even understand it but she could tell that people were being rude to her. In the book, she experiences people asking about her race and where she truly came from or being confused about her looks and heritage, tokenizing her. Thank goodness her parents and her grandparents always show her that no matter what people say, they love her.
I just felt so loved and seen reading about Cilla. It’s clear that her parents and grandparents love her very much. I never got the chance to unite both sides of my family as a biracial child but seeing Cilla make peace with her Chinese and Caucasian grandparents puts a huge smile on my face. Cilla embraces her unique heritage at the end. In her words, she herself is unique and she doesn’t have to fit into one box. I can picture so many other biracial children relating hard to this and it is wonderful that they don’t have to hide who they are.
Reading this made me feel so warm inside. My inner child would have loved to be Cilla’s friend. In a way, she reminded me of myself at a young age: enthusiastic reader, dreaming big and wanting to be an author. I loved reading about her struggles, her grit and her determination. She faces bullies with grace, learns how to be a considerate friend, overcomes reading disorder (she was a very slow reader) and protects her baby sister. It felt like I was healing somewhat when I saw her receiving the love, support and friendship that I never got. This book is a children’s book but it was very meaningful to me because for a moment, I was in a very good place reading it. I wasn’t ashamed of my heritage or hating myself so I can’t tell you how grateful I am that this book exists.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
4.0
this is soo funny and sweet!! A lovely early chapter book that will entertain and inspire young storytellers, and make kids who get teased by white kids for bringing ~~ethnic food~~ to school feel seen. and hopefully encourage white kids to not be dicks about other culture's foods. Also a great read for currently-only children who are about to become big siblings. just really charming and sensitive!!
finesilkflower's review against another edition
4.0
Read for Boston Public Library Adult Summer Reading 2020, "A local author."
A cute children's chapter book about a little girl with dreams of being a famous author, a baby sister on the way, and two sets of loving grandparents from different cultures. Cilla's experiences being biracial are a major theme. Along the way, she casually explains various literary techniques (like what a "theme" is).
Cilla has a strong, funny narrative voice. Several lines made me lol.
Minor quibble: Although an adult can clearly see that some of Cilla's experiences are racist microaggressions (e.g. people who ask her where she is from, where she is really from, etc.), Cilla herself is confused by these exchanges. I think given the ages of the audience, it would have been a good idea to spell out what was happening here, since readers are likely to be equally confused, whether or not they have have similar experiences.
A cute children's chapter book about a little girl with dreams of being a famous author, a baby sister on the way, and two sets of loving grandparents from different cultures. Cilla's experiences being biracial are a major theme. Along the way, she casually explains various literary techniques (like what a "theme" is).
Cilla has a strong, funny narrative voice. Several lines made me lol.
Minor quibble: Although an adult can clearly see that some of Cilla's experiences are racist microaggressions (e.g. people who ask her where she is from, where she is really from, etc.), Cilla herself is confused by these exchanges. I think given the ages of the audience, it would have been a good idea to spell out what was happening here, since readers are likely to be equally confused, whether or not they have have similar experiences.
tami_provencher's review against another edition
3.0
Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire is a lovely new addition to characters like Sara Pennypacker's Clementine and Beverly Cleary's Ramona Quimby. Given Cilla's Chinese-American heritage she also provides a nice counterpart to books like Carolyn Marsden's The Gold-Threaded Dress and The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin for slightly older readers.
Cilla is 8-1/2 years old. Her family is expecting her baby sister at the end of the summer and Cilla is NOT happy about it. Since she has been told by a friend (with experience) how much attention babies take away from older children, Cilla figures if she can become a best-selling author before the baby comes then it will be difficult to forget about her after the baby is born.
Cilla writes about her experiences in Preschool, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade in the alternately funny and touching voice of a genuine primary school-age child. Her stories are sweet and touching and insightful for young readers. Cilla talks about the difficulties in making (and keeping) friends and how to be okay with accepting yourself as you are--even embracing when that may be different than others. Cilla explores the ways in which her heritage affects her family and how that impacts her, as an individual and as a member of both her immediate and her extended families.
Cilla Lee-Jenkins is a great read-aloud at home or in a primary classroom. It is a particularly good selection for the second half of 2nd Grade or the very beginning of 3rd Grade when students are beginning to organize the people around them more according to social and cultural feedback than they may have earlier.
Cilla is 8-1/2 years old. Her family is expecting her baby sister at the end of the summer and Cilla is NOT happy about it. Since she has been told by a friend (with experience) how much attention babies take away from older children, Cilla figures if she can become a best-selling author before the baby comes then it will be difficult to forget about her after the baby is born.
Cilla writes about her experiences in Preschool, Kindergarten, First and Second Grade in the alternately funny and touching voice of a genuine primary school-age child. Her stories are sweet and touching and insightful for young readers. Cilla talks about the difficulties in making (and keeping) friends and how to be okay with accepting yourself as you are--even embracing when that may be different than others. Cilla explores the ways in which her heritage affects her family and how that impacts her, as an individual and as a member of both her immediate and her extended families.
Cilla Lee-Jenkins is a great read-aloud at home or in a primary classroom. It is a particularly good selection for the second half of 2nd Grade or the very beginning of 3rd Grade when students are beginning to organize the people around them more according to social and cultural feedback than they may have earlier.
melaniedctx's review against another edition
4.0
Loved reading it with my niece and can't wait to read more from Susan Tan.
kaciereads's review against another edition
4.0
Viv gives this 4 stars and is annoyed that the big sister ended up liking the little one