They say what you read and who you enter into relationships with will affect who you become in five years.

I stared working in case management 7 years ago—half way through my masters program for global public health nursing. I had my eyes opened to so many things during that time.

Those experiences lead me to @medicalteams and Healthy Women Healthy World. Their book club, that I now help moderate, has had a huge impact on my reading life.

It’s why I was drawn to the ARC of Land of Broken Promises by Jane Kuo which will be released on June 6th. Thank you to @netgalley for it. These are my honest opinions.

This book is loosely based on the authors own experience of being undocumented. It’s told in verse. This book is equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking and hopeful. This character was so real to me. Her situation so recognizable. I could see any child having these same thoughts/reactions/responses. It’s genuinely relatable in that way.

This book is full of significant truths like this:
“But it’s not just one line. There are many separate lines depending on the applicant’s country of origin. And people from certain countries wait much longer. People wait years and years, and still, some never make it.”

I highly recommend this book. I plan to buy it and the one that comes before it, In the Beautiful Country. These are the stories I want my children to read. I want these stories to deeply affect the people they are becoming. I want them to be people of welcome with profoundly compassionate hearts.

What a breathtakingly beautiful book. I love books written in verse and this one was no exception. Anna and her parents are Taiwanese immigrants in the United States. They have built a life and are running a store until one day when they discover that their visas have expired. This causes Anna to question who she is and what her dreams are now that she can be labeled “illegal”. The book was made even better for me once I realized that this is an own voices story. I highly recommend picking this amazing book.

5/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the eARC of this book.

I absolutely loved 'In the Beautiful Country', so when I saw Kuo had written a sequel, I had to get my hands on it.

This book continues the story of Anna, a recent immigrant to the United States. It is a novel in prose, so it can be a quick read but it can be heavy because of the subject matter. Anna is continuing her journey to find her place in this new country and just as she is finding some stability, shocking news shatters her fragile stability. She must now struggle with not only being an immigrant, but also undocumented.

Kuo gives Anna such an authentic voice as she lives through an authentic immigrant experience. My own grandparents immigrated here from Mexico and my mom's stories were very similar to Anna's. The highs and lows of finding your place in a new country are captured so well, along with the loneliness and fear that comes as well.

I think I liked this one even more than the previous installment. I don't think there's enough historical middlegrade being published, especially with topics that are still so relevant today. While this is a very quick read due to it being written in verse and it having a low page count, there's still so much packed into this story. I think that would make the story very accessible to younger readers, but I'd highly recommend this to people of any age.

Jane Kuo has been an auto-read author for me ever since In the Beautiful Country so I went into this blind, not knowing that it's actually a direct sequel! Imagine my delight at meeting Anna again.

This is a wonderful novel-in-verse that I flew through in one sitting. Once again, the young protagonist's voice is authentic and shines through. Although nowhere as emotional as its predecessor, Land of Broken Promises paints an incredibly realistic and heartbreaking picture of the immigrant experience and the sacrifices made in pursuit of the American Dream.

I felt deeply for what Anna and her family have to go through, where so much is at stake, as well as her experiences as someone growing up in an Asian household. No surprise that the author has captured familial relationships + themes of identity, belonging and home with so much nuance and heart, since this book is based on her own life.

Overall, this is a beautiful read that will definitely stay with me. Can't wait for the author's next book, regardless of whether it's a sequel or not!

Ai Shi (Anna), an immigrant from Taiwan longs to be a normal American girl. She wants to hang out with friends, go to the beach, and attend summer camp. But she can’t. She needs to help her parents in the family restaurant. And to make matters worse, she and her family discover their visa ran out and they are now undocumented. Told in verse, Anna’s story chronicles the heartache and loneliness of a young girl trying to navigate through the difficult middle school years with the added burden of constant fear of not being wanted in her adopted country. Based somewhat on the author’s own experience, this is an important yet quick read chronicling the immigrant experience in America. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novel-in-verse tells the story of a Taiwanese family who immigrates to America. Told through the eyes of the daughter.

Succinct and moving. Tender and hopeful. This book is sure to spark empathy in its readers as it illuminates some of the hardships that immigrants face while trying to make their way in a new country.

This is a poignant read given the current political climate around immigration in the United States. Quick and easy read written in verse. Beautifully depicts life as an immigrant family and the conversations around family, gratitude and not returning to the home country.

** spoiler alert ** A beautiful sequel to Jane Kuo's In the Beautiful Country. During the stressful months of their restaurant struggling to stay open during repeated acts of vandalism, Anna's dad reacts to the stress by shoving all the mail in English that he can't read into a cupboard above the fridge. When Anna and her mother find it, they are too late to renew their visas. They are now undocumented. They need a lawyer, and lawyers cost money they don't have. So Anna agrees to work all summer at the restaurant while her mother works for another family further down the California coast.

This is an achingly gorgeous sequel full of beautiful stanzas like this:
...the stages of grief are random/like a steel ball ricocheting/in a pinball machine. The ball slams/from denial to bargaining to anger./Ding! Ding! Ding! No rhyme or reason,/only velocity/ and rage."

There's just something about a middle grade novel written in verse that can pack in all the feels. This was a beautiful story about a girl who is a Taiwanese immigrant. Her family is undocumented, and the story navigates her processing and the experience of her family with this realization. This is based on the author's own experiences which makes the feelings all the more authentic and real. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this May 2023 release.

Story of Taiwanese immigrant Anna (Ai Shi)) and her parents living in California.
Anna longs to be like her classnmates - going to school , hanging out, going to the
beach and attending camp once school is out. Instead, she is required to work
in the family restaurant. Things are upended when her parents discover their visa
has expired and they are now in the country illegally. As her parents decide what to do, Anna has to deal with keeping the fact hidden and the fear that at any moment the family could be sent back to Taiwan.
#LandofBrokenPromises #NetGalley

This stunning historical novel in verse about a young girl whose parents discover their visas have expired and their path to citizenship is unclear is a beautiful read. The clear and effective verse is a beautiful insight into Anna’s voice, hopes and dreams. I really loved the parallel but diverging journeys of her and her school friend, Tiff, whose family also has money issues but is able to bounce back differently than Anna due to her privilege. This is a book I would recommend to anyone looking for beautiful verse about identity, family, and community.

As the sequel to ‘In the Beautiful Country’, Ai Shi, known as Anna to her peers, has been living in America for a year now. She’s been navigating life as a Taiwanese immigrant. School is trickier than she anticipated, her family’s store is requiring more of her time and energy, and she is missing her family in Taiwan. Ai Shi is craving the life of a normal teenager: trips to the beach, summer camp, becoming a lawyer. Just when she thought all that was becoming a reality, her family comes across expired immigration paperwork and all her dreams are crushed. Instead of a summer filled with ice cream and sunburn, Ai Shi is required to work the restaurant every day to save enough money to pay the immigration lawyer.

This beautiful novel can be summed up in a single quote “I’m telling you this because I want you to know that immigration stories are complicated.” Anna’s authenticity paired with Kuo’s effortless writing style make this an easy-to-read book for 5th-8th graders!

It was a privilege to read this wonderful novel in verse as an ARC through NetGalley. ‘Land of Broken Promises’ will be released on May 9, 2023. It is a clear addition to any middle grade classroom library!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy of this book.

I really enjoyed In The Beautiful Country so I was thrilled to see this book was coming out! Anna is a remarkable character, a young immigrant living in southern California in the 1980s, having recently moved from Taiwan. This novel in verse chronicles Anna's life as she adjusts and thrives in school, and focuses on her summer plans, which involve working at the family store. When other kids are going to camp or hanging out and relaxing, Anna is having to help her parents out.

Anna is a very relatable character. She doesn't see things the way her immigrant parents do, nor does she always agree with her best friend Tiffany. She has a lot of questions and she longs to be a writer even though her parents want her to be a doctor or a lawyer. She learns in this book that their temporary visa has expired, so she and her parents are here illegally. Her family is courageous as they pursue a life in America.

I enjoyed this story very much, and appreciated this excellent book by Jane Kuo. I hope other readers will root for Anna the way I did!

Jane Kuo's continuation of Anna's story In the Beautiful Land, does not disappoint. Told in verse from Anna's perspective, readers hear exactly Anna's experience as a Taiwanese immigrant to America. Anna's desire to understand who she is and how she fits into America is told in raw honesty and is authentic. Anna felt like an outsider in Taiwan and now like one in America. Kuo's beautiful poetry brings Anna's story to life, readable and relatable. This story is a perfect addition to classrooms, libraries as either a group or independent read.

Land of Broken Promises is a beautiful book told in prose that discusses the challenges that face an immigrant family in finding their identity between their birth country and their current country. Kuo has a creative writing style that clearly connects even non-immigrants to the feelings that come with feeling displaced in one's home. I would highly recommend this for readers of all ages.

The book was excellent! It accurately depicted the realities of immigration, particularly for undocumented immigrants.

I adored the family-centered themes, like how the mother of the main character moves to a new city to work while the rest of the family continues to work together.

I also admired their ability to find a solution after discovering they were undocumented.

This book was excellent overall and had a lot of emotion.

When I saw this book, I immediately knew I had to review it! I loved the first one, and it gave me all the feels. It was such a real and heartbreaking story about the immigrant’s life. The author had written from her own experience, so you can feel the authenticity. I am not a huge fan of books written in verse form, but I loved this one.
We get to see more of Anna’s new life in America. She is finally settling in when she’s rocked by the news that her family are considered undocumented immigrants. Their visa had expired without their knowledge, so now Anna has to grapple with what being “undocumented” means and if America is truly the Land of Promise.
So this was such a fascinating read! It’s not hard to understand even though it’s in poetry form, but it’s just about life. I love how there’s no easier answers or solutions. We don't necessarily get an HEA which is hard but also good. I think it’ll show kids how much things have changed over the years, and the struggles other people are still facing. The struggle to survive really.
Even though there’s not technically an HEA, Anna learns the power of her words. She learns how she can create something that moves people and makes change. I loved watching her grow into herself, and I love how she’s a very flawed character. She wants to earn money for working in the restaurant, and she sometimes resents the Asianness in her. But at the same time, she’s such a strong, real heroine who I think a lot of people will connect too.
I would 100% recommend this book! It is such a beautiful read perfect for any middle grade reader. It deals with some tough issues about immigration and America with grace.

Highlights:
Strong family unit
Power of words
Realistic immigrant experience
Traditional values celebrated
Asian representation

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

This is my first Jane Kuo novel, but it won't be my last. She did a phenomenal job of writing this novel in verse, told through her experience as a young undocumented immigrant, living in California. "Anna" is her American name; however, Ai Shi, (in which Ai means love and Shi means poetry), writes of her experience working over the summer at her parents restaurant after learning their immigration status is now undocumented. I enjoyed the true feelings that Ai Shi expressed and how well Kuo wrote about the experiences she faced as an American student and as a Taiwanese immigrant. She wrote in a relatable and personal way that really made me think more about the 1980s in America and what our immigration laws require and enforce on others. This is a fast-paced book that I'll likely read again because there were so many allusions and connections to history that I need to re-read and research some more. Kuo does a phenomenal job at writing this novel in verse for younger readers. I appreciated this book. I wanted to hug this book. I will definitely purchase this book to have on my shelf.

Gorgeous follow-up to In the Beautiful Country. Kuo continues to explore the immigrant experience- the hard questions, the relationship dynamics, and both the beauty and trials of starting anew. Highly recommend.