Written by Christina Matula
Inkyard Press
978-1-335-00999-9
272 pp.
Ages 8-12
April 2024
Isn't it lovely that we get to visit with Holly-Mei and her friends and family once again? The twelve-year-old who Christina Matula introduced us to in The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei and allowed us to join in her new life in Hong Kong is a little older, well-situated at Tai Tam Prep, and becoming familiar with her new home. But with all those important changes, Holly-Mei is now becoming a teen, and The Not-So-Simple Question is her coming-of-age story.
Holly-Mei and her family have now been in Hong Kong for nine months and she is in the last few months of her Grade 7 year. There are lots of important events still to come like Experience Week during which Upper Grade students travel to other Asian locations for a week of learning. It's a great opportunity for Holly-Mei to discover more about her Taiwanese heritage–her mother and Ah-ma, grandmother, are Taiwanese while her father is British–by visiting Taiwan. She's also hoping that it will help her clarify who she is, feeling less than others because of her mixed heritage. And then there's the problem with boys. Her friend Gemma is determined to have an end-of-year prom to which the girls must bring dates. Holly-Mei is obviously well liked by her friends, including Dev and Theo, but, unlike her younger sister Millie who is all about popularity and acting grown-up, Holly-Mei isn't ready for dating, and she doesn't know how to reconcile her feelings with the demands of her friends.
Holly-Mei has a lot on her plate but that is what it often feels like when you are entering your teen years. It's a balance of moving from childhood to adulthood and navigating when and how much you're wanting to change. But coupled with that is Holly-Mei's confusion about her heritage and feeling that others judge her by how she speaks Chinese, who her parents are, and if half of anything is enough for her to be her true self. It's no wonder the girl is feeling on edge and confused. And with Holly-Mei, that uncertainty often leads her to misunderstanding or saying the wrong thing. Thankfully, Holly-Mei's story is in Christina Matula's capable hands, and she ends it with understanding, acceptance, and accord. (And we get to take a wonderful trip to Taiwan to see the sights, the culture, and the food. Always the food!)
The first Holly-Mei book was just recommended by young readers of the Red Maple Forest Kid Committee for their summer reading list and it's nice to know that there are two more books in the series to reach for after you've enjoyed The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei. With The Not-So-Simple Question, we get to see how Holly-Mei has ended her Grade 7 year, after a full year of learning to deal with new friends, with sports competition, with sibling interactions, with misunderstandings, and more. With that learning has come an appreciation for who she is and the kind of person she wants to be. She's still learning to be the best version of herself but she's on the right path, and Christina Matula lets us tag along on Holly-Mei's journey of self-realization and growing up, while enjoying the sights and cultures of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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| From The Not-So-Simple Question, written by Christina Matula |
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Holly-Mei Books
The Not-So-Perfect Plan (2023)
The Not-So-Simple Question (2024)
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