In this powerful story, the wonderfully-inspiring Maizy gives up her dreams of a relaxing summer at home with her best friend and throws herself into the community she has never visited and the family she has only just met. It is through learning her family's history that Maizy is given the tools to help her family heal the rift that is stopping them from having a future together--and this broader perspective enables her to see the hidden side of the members of her community, as well. Community--as well as Maizy's own courage and hope--will prove the key to overcoming the bigotry that Maizy's family has faced since they first emigrated from China. I highly recommend this middle grade novel to any upper elementary and middle school fans of contemporary fiction, as well as book clubs and classrooms for that age group!

As a tribute to her grandparents and their immigration to America early in the 20th century, this works very well. There is a story within the story that Maizy's Opa is telling her bit by bit. It is the story of Lucky and his coming to America and the origins of The Golden Palace, the family restaurant in Last Chance, Minnesota. That was my favorite part of the book. Maizy's summer in Last Chance had too many issues crammed in. I did especially love her relationship with her Opa and the custom fortunes she started inserting in the cookies. The subject of Paper Sons is also well covered in this book and that is an important piece of history for Chinese Americans. After the story, the author includes some family photos and a nonfiction narrative summarizing some facts about the arc of Chinese immigration in the US. Overall, a bit of a disappointment due to the all the stuff crammed into Maizy's summer, but the Golden Palace story saves the day.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's Books through NetGalley.
Yee has crafted a powerful story about love and strife among family generations. She also captures the sad, but real, fact that bigotry and discrimination still run strong. Maizy and her mother head to Last Chance, Minnesota for the summer as her grandfather is ill. She doesn't understand how ill until they arrive. Her mom and grandmother (Oma) carry their tension and argue much of the time.
Yee unfolds the layers of these characters as readers see one dying (Opa), one fighting against accepting death (Oma), one struggling at being back home (her mom), and one struggling to be back in her California home. She also weaves history through the story as readers learn about the Paper Sons and the role this family has played in standing strong against prejudice and attacks based on their Chinese heritage.
I was moved to tears at how sensitively Yee wrote about grief, mourning together and alone, and moving forward with healing. I cheered for Maizy when she stood up to an authority figure who deliberately stirred hatred to write a story.
Middle grade readers will connect with Maizy as she figures out who she is, learns of her past, and works to see beyond the surface as she interacts with others.

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance is a spellbinding middle grade book about one Chinese family's heritage and the granddaughter who ties it all together. This book highlights the challenges that Chinese people have faced while immigrating to the US. It also shows how immigrants can find family among themselves and in their communities. Maizy Chen's Last Chance also depicts a protagonist whose father was a sperm donor, like Nikki in Nikki on the Line. Some kids with unique family situations may appreciate this detail. I loved this one and I always enjoy Lisa Yee's storytelling. This is a must-read.

Maizy Chen's Last Chance is a fantastic middle grade level book for young readers (ages 8-12). It is full of heart, courage and history!

Maizy and her mother move from Los Angeles to small town Last Chance, MN to care for Maizy's grandfather for the summer, and Maizy is not quite sure of this relocation. While Maizy considers herself 100% American, in this small town she is an outlier and is not met with open arms all the time simply because of her race. Over the course of the summer, Maizy learns some valuable lessons about her family's restaurant business and how her family's immigration history had led them to this very spot in the United States.

I also appreciated how Lisa Yee was able to describe through her words the challenges and treasures most families face when living in a multigenerational household. This novel is a perfect way to discuss racism and bigotry to middle grades incorporating history and contemporary issues together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this advanced copy. This novel will be published on February 1, 2022.

The author notes that writing this book in a time of rising hatred and crimes against Asian Americans was a very emotional experience. While some of the story is based in actual history, the personalities and characters she created are not.

On one hand, this is a middle-grade book in which a girl learns not to judge others, and how to deal with illness and death.

On the other hand, this is a middle-grade book in which a girl learns the hardship of being judged simply because of her heritage.

The combination of these ideas brings a heartwarming story about embracing one’s heritage and family history while fighting to stop hate and prejudice.

I like that Yee did not always go for the simple solutions. Things aren’t always tidy, and sometimes they’re sad. But Maizy is a bright light and, as she learns, so do we.

Possible Objectionable Material:
There are going to be people who don’t want their children to read this book, because it gives both modern and historical examples of mistreatment of Chinese Americans. If you don’t think kids should know about the thornier parts of American history, pass this one by. One character is homosexual. Maizy’s mom is a single parent by choice.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who enjoy family history, Chinese food, American history—warts and all.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/01/february-1-releases-part-1.html

Lisa Yee has written an incredible story linking past and present through the story of Maizy and her family. Spending the summer with her sick grandfather and distant grandmother and helping in the family's Chinese restaurant in Last Chance, Minnesota was not what Maizy anticipated, but she quickly weaves herself into the story of this small town. As her grandfather worsens and hate crimes toward the family build, Maizy's positivity and curiosity about her ancestors shine through the darkness. Highly recommend this title for any middle grade classroom!

Maizy Chen has only met her grandparents once when they came to visit her mother, and only for a few minutes. Now, her mother has driven them from their home in LA to Last Chance, Minnesota, where her grandparents live. They run The Golden Palace, the only Chinese restaurant in town. Once they arrive, Maizy realizes that her grandfather is very sick and they might be in Last Chance all summer. Although at first she is reluctant to accept life in this small town, she soon realizes a lot about her family history that she never knew before. The more she learns, the more she begins to appreciate Last Chance.

This was truly a heartwarming book about family, ancestry, and legacies. I had never heard of paper sons until I read this book, and there was so much about the history of Chinese Americans in early America that I did not know about. I also loved Maizy, and how by the end of the book she got to understand the town and her grandparents better. I also love how all the characters seemed like real people, and the town felt like a real place too. This will definitely appeal to fans of Front Desk, Clean Getaway, Only Black Girls in Town, and Prairie Lotus. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to book talk it in the future.

This was my first novel by the author and I really enjoyed it!

Maizy Chen and her mother leave L.A. to spend the summer with her ailing grandparents in the middle-of-nowhere Minnesota. Maizy hadn't known her grandparents well, so it is nice to spend time with them working at their Chinese restaurant. However, being the only Chinese family in town makes Maizy a target for town bullies,

I love how much cultural history the author tied into the story and all the descriptions of food!! This is great for fans of Front Desk.

An utterly charming middle grade novel about a young girl who expands her understanding of herself, her heritage, and her assumptions, MAIZY CHEN'S LAST CHANCE is sure to be a modern classic. When Maizy's mom informs her that they're leaving Los Angeles to travel back to her mom's hometown of Last Chance, Minnesota, for a few days because Maizy's grandfather is ill, she's on board -- she hasn't seen her grandparents in many years and has never been to The Golden Palace, their family restaurant. In Last Chance, though, things are different than Maizy expected: her mom and grandma fight all the time, her grandfather is sicker than they'd realized, and even though The Golden Palace has been there for over a century, the town is still relatively closed off to non-white people. When Maizy's mom informs her that they'll be staying much longer than she originally intended, Maizy must make the most of her time in Last Chance by making some new friends, trying to get to know the restaurant's clientele, and learning about her family's origins from her grandfather.

There's so much going on in this book, from Maizy's worries about fitting in and keeping/making friends to her sadness over her grandfather's worsening illness to her dawning understanding of how and why one might take a stand for something they believe in to her upsetting first encounters with overt racism. The story of Maizy's great-great grandfather Lucky, who arrived in San Francisco just after the gold rush, is interspersed with Maizy's own story, which allows the reader to consider the persistence of prejudice and anti-immigration sentiment. An important book for all readers, MAIZY CHEN is an excellent read!

Lisa Yee had me at Cream Cheese Wontons. Having grown up in Minnesota, I can attest to the popularity. (And deliciousness.)

When Maizy's grandfather gets sick, her mother drives them from Los Angeles to the small town of Last Chance, Minnesota where her Oma and Opa live. (Yes, those are the German words for grandparents. Yes, they are Chinese American. Don't worry, it's all explained.) What starts as a week long visit turns into the entire summer. Maizy had only met her grandparents once before, very briefly, and is surprised by everything she learns about them and the town where her mother grew up. Her Opa tells her stories about her great-great-grandfather Lucky and how he came to America and ended up in Last Chance. The racism he encountered 100 years ago is juxtaposed with events still happening today. This is a moving book of family history, friendship, and forgiveness. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance is a very timely book. After the pandemic, Maizy and her mom head to Last Chance, Minnesota to visit her grandparents. Maizy has only seen her grandparents one other time, so she is not thrilled about spending the summer with them. Maizy find out the reason they have gone to visit is because Opa, her grandfather, is sick. While there, Maizy helps her grandmother at their restaurant, Golden Palace. While working there she finds old pictures of Chinese people on the wall in the office. Through her grandfather, she learns the story of how her great great grandfather came to America from China. Maizy starts researching her heritage and learns about the Paper Sons who came from China during the early 1900s. This book tells the story of prejudice and discrimination against Asian Americans then and now, but also of how important family and your heritage are. I will definitely be buying this book for the library!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

This was my first novel by the author and I really enjoyed it! It is a standalone novel about a girl, Maizy Chen, who lives with her single mother in Los Angeles. They spend the summer with her grandparents, because her grandfather (Opa) is not in good health and her mother wants to help her parents out. They end up in the fictional town of Last Chance, Minnesota, which was on the railroad line a hundred years ago, connecting the Midwest with the West Coast. Her grandparents have not had much of a presence in her life and the relationship between her mother and grandparents seems to be strained. Her grandparents own the only Chinese restaurant in town, and as Maizy spends the days, she becomes closer to her Opa, who tells her story about Lucky, his grandfather. In the meantime, some of the townsfolk target Maizy for bullying because her family is the only Chinese family in town. Without revealing any spoilers, I learned a lot from this book, even if the place and story is fictional. In particular, I learned about the transcontinental railroad and how 20,000 Chinese immigrants were instrumental in getting it built. I also learned about the "paper sons" which I have never heard of and I love how the author tied it into Maizy's family history. And I loved the food, both the food cooked by her Oma/restaurant, as well as the Brats made by Werner.

This story is written children, and I would say the target audience is about 3rd-6th grade, depending on the reading level of the kids. The chapters are short, and parents could easily read a few chapters at bedtime. I think this book is thought-provoking and could lead to many positive discussions. I would definitely recommend this to my students.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book does an excellent job teaching about acceptance and tolerance. It is an especially relevant read in today's world.
The book takes place in Last Chance, MN, but the name of the town itself, implies so much and will lead the reader on a road to the main character's, Maizie's, awakening of what life will teach her.
Family rules above all but the sugarcoating is eliminated. The love the family feels for each other is overwhelming but the pitfalls of that concern for each other is explored realistically.
The plot is one that will immerse the reader from page one. There is mystery, suspense and a great story. Yet, the overriding plot of learning about others that are different and realizing the importance of that is a theme that permeates the book. Friendship and hate are explored side by side. Great read!

I am not the person that normally reads middle-grade books but once in a while, something catches my attention and I have to give it a chance. Maizy Chen’s Last Chance was that book that stuck out to me. Maizy is a young Asian American girl that spends her summer in a city that she is unfamiliar with. Family comes first in this story but the subtle themes of racism and immigration are weaved throughout. By connecting food to the story, the plot is digestible (pun, intended!).

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Maizy and her mother live in California, where her never-married mother works as a well-known food stylist. Maizy has only met her Oma and Opa once, when her mother's parents came to visit, but immediately left. When Opa becomes ill, Maizy and her mother decide to spend the summer in Last Chance, Minnesota, where her grandparents run a Chinese restaurant. It's certainly a different sort of life, and while she misses her best friend, Maizy settles in to small town life. She meets Logan, who is nice, and some mean girls, who seem to be making fun of her. She spends a lot of time in the restaurant, where she gets to know Daisy, the only staff member, and some of the regulars. She is also tasked with keeping Opa company, and the two spend a lot of time watching a food television show. When she learns that Werner, who runs a bratwurst stand, used to be her grandfather's best friend, but they had a falling out, she trades food from the Golden Palace for sausage sandwiches, hoping to get Opa to eat more. Eventually, Werner comes to spend time with his old friend, although they watch television rather than talk. Her mother seems to be reconnecting with a high school flame, who is now the school principal. When Maizy experiences some racial tension, since her family is the only Asian-American one in town, her grandfather starts to tell her about some family history. Going back into the mid 1800s, we find out about Lucky Chen, who left China to come work in California and fled when he was wrongly accused of stealing from his employers. He got a ticket as far as Minnesota, and got a job as a cook at the Golden Grille. Throughout the book, we see Lucky and his descendants' stories of discrimination contrasted with what is going on in Last Chance now, which includes racial slurs painted on the restaurant and the stealing of a stuffed bear mascot. Maizy learns a lot about the history of her family, her grandparents, and how the struggles that Chinese-Americans have experienced through history are still continuing today.
Strengths: Maizy was a great character who wasn't too thrilled to be away from home for the summer but who made the best of her experiences. She was glad to get to know her grandparents, to hang out in a different place, and to learn about her family history. So many middle grade characters approach new experiences with negativity, so this was great to see. I'm usually not a fan of the story-within-a-story, but Opa's tale about Lucky and the Golden Palace worked extremely well, and I was looking forward to the next installment as much as Maizy was. The secondary characters, like Principal Holmes, Daisy, and Werner help to give a good feel for the dynamics of the town; Principal Holmes is married to a man, and lives in a nearby city because he's not sure how this will go over with residents, Daisy has some learning challenges but thrives when given a chance by Oma to work, and Werner's family highlights the German residents who first came to Last Chance. I have relatives in a much smaller Iowa community, and the details about a small town Midwest community are spot on. Now, we just need some newer historical novels about Paper Sons and Chinese workers in the 1800s, and if they are written in such an engaging style, they'd see a lot of circulation.
Weaknesses: The subplot with the mayor felt a bit forced, and Maizy's interplay with the local mean girls didn't quite gel as much as it could have.
What I really think: This was a perfect balance between a fun setting and characters, and more serious issues and history. It had a lot of similarities to Johnson's The Parker Inheritance, with the blend of modern and historical problems, or Luz Alegre's Dream Weavers, with the family business. I'm always a fan of characters who get to know their grandparents and who get to experience other places in the world, and Maizy makes the most of her opportunities. Definitely glad to add this to my selection of summer adventures for my readers.

Thank you to #NetGalley Lisa Yee and the publisher for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Maizy Chen and her mom go to Last Chance, Minnesota from California to help take care of her Grandfather until he gets better. Maizy has never been to Last Chance until now. As plans start to change, Maizy and her mom help in the restaurant, "The Golden Palace" that has been in their family for generations. As Maizy works in the restaurant, she starts to develop questions. The only question is will she get the answer to them.

I loved this book! Its the perfect middle grade novel to teach about acceptance and how people of certain cultures and races have not always been treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. I like how outspoken Maizy is in this story as she speaks up for others and herself. I also like the relationship she has with her grandfather.
READ THIS BOOK if you have a middle grader at home or teach a middle grade. It is fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers for the electronic galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Children’s and Middle Grade books are not at the top of my genre list, but the cover, title, and description of this book really called out to me. As a half Asian woman, I have been happy to see an increase in books with Asian characters and themes, though saddened that anti-Asian sentiment has often been the cause.

Maizy Chen and her mother are in Last Chance, Minnesota, because her grandfather is ill. Her mother has been estranged from her parents for a while—they do not understand her profession as a “food stylist”. Maizy and her mother help out at the family restaurant, the Golden Palace, and Maizy frequently stays with her grandfather, who tells her stories about her ancestors.

Sadly, Asian hate rears its ugly head and Maizy learns who her real friends are in Last Chance—and there are more than she realized! While she investigates the current situation, her grandfather teaches her about the early experience of the Chinese in America and how the family ended up in Last Chance.

I am glad that the author explained how she came to write this book and the origins of some of the characters and themes—I was more than ready to believe it was a memoir! I was ready to appreciate this book simply for it being about an Asian girl who finds herself in a white community, but it was so much more. I was glad that it dealt with Asian hate in a way that would be accessible to young readers, and I was thoroughly impressed that it introduced the history of “paper sons” as well as the building of the railroads and early discrimination and exclusion.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to read this amazing e-ARC, and I hope I’m able to find the hardcover once it’s published!

5 Stars

I just finished this book and it had me in tears in the best possible way. The story of Maizy & her grandfather, the stories he told that became a story within one, the growth Maizy had and the relationships she fostered was nothing short of beautiful. I saw so much of myself in this story from the love & adoration she had for her grandpa (mine passed in December 2020 & he is my favorite person), her love of stories & inquisitive nature, her interest in her history and determination to connect. I adored her. I also related to the story of her great great grandfather's immigration as both my grandparents & parents immigrated here from their respective countries. I loved how the chapters were broken up into short parts so the pacing was really good and I believe would make it easy to teach. I think a lot of kids will be able to see themselves in Maizy and adults too.

I wish I could turn back the clock to when I was a sixth grade teacher because I would so be reading this book out loud to my class, and enjoying the discussions I know it would spark.

Mazy Chen is eleven, living with her mom in Los Angeles when they suddenly drop everything to drive back to the tiny town of Last Chance, Minnesota, to visit the grandparents Maizy has only seen once on a single occasional memorable for its discomfort.

Her Oma and Opa run a Chinese restaurant, the only one in the tiny town. And there's a reason her grandparents, both of Chinese ancestry, go by the German nicknames for grandparents, which we find out later.

At the beginning, Maizy is not happy to be stuck in a dull little town at a restaurant that is the center of her grandparents' lives; Opa is ill, and it's Maizy's job to keep him occupied so that he doesn't get stressed with work.

Once Maizy starts getting to know Opa, the book opens up like a lotus, one absorbing petal after another. I especially appreciated the little snips of ancestor "Lucky" Chen's life, beginning in China in 1853, then coming to America, as told by Opa to Maizy.

The prose is simple without ever being simplistic (In my family, sometimes what's not said takes up more space than what is), the characters a wide range from repellent to lovely, with plenty of complexity between; the pacing is brisk enough to keep me turning the pages until I suddenly found myself done. I can see a kid reader racing through this book.

I think what I appreciated most was Yee's clarity of vision. She gives us characters representing all the warts and foibles of human nature, with a strong glimmering of compassion tying everything together. This is not a flowers and rainbows book of everybody simple and happy, which can hit false notes, especially for kids today who hear their parents' worries and who might have family stories about racial slurs, or have been hit with them themselves.

But it is also not one of those dreary seventies Problem Novels that (in my classroom experience) put more kids off reading than not, and also implied somehow that being other than white cis het was A Problem--not a message that is helpful to anyone.

The book is funny and scary by turns, thoughtful and wise, as adults as well as kids make mistakes and learn from them--or don't. I would have bought this in hardback for my classroom shelf. Two copies.