Book Review and Giveaway: Finally Heard by Kelly Yang

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m thrilled to share a review of Kelly Yang’s MG contemporary Finally Heard. I’m a huge fan of Kelly Yang’s Front Desk series and her Finally Seen series, which this is a sequel to. Kelly has been an amazing writer since she was a kid and immigrated to the U.S. from China as a middle grader. If you read her author notes at the end of her novels, you’ll learn what an incredible life Kelly has had.

I had hoped to have Kelly here for an interview, but she couldn’t do one given her busy schedule. However, she helped me obtain a book for a giveaway from her publisher. And thanks to her publisher for an ARC of Finally Heard for an honest review.

Here’s a blurb of Finally Heard from Goodreads:

 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk comes the sequel to Finally Seen in which Lina struggles to separate fact from fiction on social media.

When ten-year-old Lina Gao sees her mom’s video on social media take off, she’s captivated by the potential to be seen and heard! Maybe online she can finally find the confidence she craves. Whereas in real life she’s growing so fast, she feels like microwave popcorn, bursting out of her skin!

With the help of her two best friends, Carla and Finn, and her little sister, Millie, Lina sets off to go viral. Except there’s a lot more to social media than Lina ever imagined,

1. Seeing inside her classmates’ lives! Is she really the only person on the planet who doesn’t have a walk-in closet?
2. Group chats! Disappearing videos! Will anyone comment? What’s that emoji mean?
3. A bazillion stories about what to eat, wear, and put on her face . Could they all be telling the truth? Everyone sounds so sure of what they’re saying!

As Lina descends deeper and deeper into social media, it will take all her strength to break free from the likes and find the courage to be her authentic self in this fast-paced world.

Follower News

Before I get to my review, I have Follower News to share. Follower Sandy Grubb’s MG contemporary Just Like Click was recently released. Here’s a blurb: Eleven-year-old Nick Townley steps off the comic book pages he creates and ventures into the night as an undercover superhero to save his home and his father’s job, which would be a lot easier if he had actual superpowers. When three new kids discover his identity and want to join him, Nick vows to stay undercover…until he realizes even a superhero needs friends. And here are a few links: sandygrubb.com X and IG: @sandygrubb

 

Yvonne Osborne has an adult release Let Evening Come. Here’s a blurb: Let Evening Come is the love story between an Indigenous son displaced from his ancestral home on the Tar Sands of Canada and a motherless farm girl from Michigan who struggles to overcome loss while navigating the pitfalls of young adulthood. Together they combat suspicion and bigotry on both sides of the border and the cultural differences that separate them. And here’s a few links:
Amazon Website Barnes & Noble

 

Finally Heard Review

Finally Heard is a sequel to Finally Seen. While you may enjoy this sequel more if you read Finally Seen first where Lina immigrates to the United States as a middle grader, this can be read as a standalone. Like Kelly’s other books, it’s a riveting story that I had a hard time putting down. I devoured it in a few sittings. Here are a few things I loved about the story:

1. ·      In Finally Heard, Lina deals with problems with social media that many middle graders will relate to.
2. ·      I loved the relationship between Lina and her grandmother. Even though her grandma lives in China, Lina has been able to remain close to her.
3. ·       I really enjoyed how this story highlights what it’s like to immigrate here as a middle grader and how Lina’s whole family is coping with their new life here. We learn how her mom, who is starting an online business, gets entrapped in social media too.
4. ·       Lina is a very compelling character, as are her younger sister Millie and her friends, Finn and Carla.
5. ·       I LOVED the last lines of the book. Those lines are for adults as well as middle graders. I’ve read them many times during a big personal challenge I faced a few weeks ago, and they helped me get through it.

I can’t recommend this and Kelly Yang’s other books enough. They’re all fantastic!

About Kelly:

 

Kelly immigrated to America when she was 6 years old and grew up in Southern California, where she and her parents worked in three different motels. She overcame poverty to go to college at the age of 13 and law school at the age of 17. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where she majored in Political Science, and Harvard Law School. After law school, she gave up law to pursue her passion of writing and teaching children writing. She is the founder of The Kelly Yang Project (kellyyang.edu.hk), a leading writing and debating program for kids in Asia. As a writing teacher for 13 years, Kelly helped thousands of children find their voice and become better writers and more powerful speakers. Before turning to fiction, she was also a columnist for the South China Morning Post for many years. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She is the Honorary Chair of the American Library Association for National Library Week. She has three children and lives in Los Angeles.  

 Kelly is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of FINALLY SEEN, NEW FROM HERE, the FRONT DESK series ("One of the 30 Most Influential Children's Books Of All Time" -BookRiot), including FRONT DESK, THREE KEYS, and ROOM TO DREAM, KEY PLAYER, and TOP STORY, YES WE WILL, and young adult novels PARACHUTES and PRIVATE LABEL. FRONT DESK is Kelly's award-winning middle grade debut novel about a 10 year old Chinese American immigrant girl who manages the front desk of a motel while her parents clean the rooms. FRONT DESK was awarded the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, the Parents' Choice Gold Medal, was the 2019 Global Read Aloud, and was named an Amazon Best Book of the Year, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a NPR Best Book of the Year, and a Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year.

You can learn more about Kelly at https://www.kellyyang.com/.

Giveaway Details

Kelly’s publisher is generously offering a hardback of Finally Heard for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by April 27th. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

Tomorrow, April 16th I’m participating in the Rain Drop on Roses Giveaway Hop

Monday, April 22nd I have an agent spotlight interview with Hillary Fazzari and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, May 1st I have an interview with author Stacy Stokes and a giveaway of her YA speculative thriller The Darkness Rises and my IWSG post

Monday, May 6th I have an agent spotlight interview with Miriam Cortinovis and a query critique giveaway

Wednesday, May 8th I have an agent spotlight interview with Jenniea Carter and a query critique giveaway

Monday, May 13th I have a guest post by debut author Sandy Green and a giveaway of her MG novel in verse Ghost Writers: The Haunting of Lake Lucy

Wednesday, May 15th I have a guest post by Rose Atkinson-Carter, a freelance writer for Reedsy

Monday, May 20th I have an agent spotlight interview with Caroline Trussell and a query critique giveaway

I hope to see you tomorrow!