By Samantha Pak
Northwest Asian Weekly
“Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor“
By Xiran Jay Zhao
Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2022
Zachary Ying doesn’t know much about his Chinese heritage. His single mom is too busy working to make ends meet to share anything and he’s only ever learned about Western history and myths in school (something many of us can confirm). So when the 12-year-old learns that he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China—and has to seal the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open—he’s woefully unprepared.
Things go wrong almost immediately when the First Emperor fails to possess Zack’s body and instead binds himself to Zack’s AR gaming headset. This leads to demons capturing Zack’s mother’s soul—giving the mission even more urgency as he may lose her forever.
“Zachary Ying” is an adventure story about a boy who has always worried about others’ opinions and learns the strength of letting those worries go and believing in himself. As the book progresses, it’s great to see Zack come into his own, find his voice, and stand up for himself and others. This growing confidence comes from having one of history’s most infamous tyrants offering nonstop commentary in his headset, as well as spending time with Simon and Melissa—the two other kids he’s joined on this quest, who are also (properly bonded) hosts to two other famous Chinese emperors.
Part of Zack’s wanting to fit in so badly is because not only does he come from an immigrant background, he’s also Muslim and part of an ethnic minority group in China. In addition, his father was killed by the Chinese government for speaking up for their community. Zhao does a great job of balancing facts like these as well as about Chinese history and mythology, with a fun story that will have readers smiling all through the book while wanting to learn more about these different figures, legends, and moments in history.
“Black Water Sister”
By Zen Cho
Ace, 2021
Life for Jessamyn Teoh could be better. Closeted, broke, and unemployed, she’s moving back to Malaysia with her parents—a country she hasn’t been back to in years. And when she starts hearing a new voice in her head and learns it’s the ghost of her estranged grandmother, things just go downhill from there.
When she was alive, Jess’ Ah Ma was a spirit medium for a deity called the Black Water Sister. Now in death, Ah Ma is determined to settle a score against a business magnate who has offended the god (and Ah Ma, for various reasons), and she’s recruited Jess (against her will) to help her. Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess has to figure out how to deal with a vengeful god and perhaps an even more vengeful grandmother who has no compunction about spying on Jess’ personal life, and using Jess’s body to commit felonies. I really enjoyed seeing Jess grow stronger and more confident in herself to gain more agency over her body and her life—and not just how it relates to the spirits possessing her.
Life with family in any culture is complicated. And in “Black Water Sister,” Cho shows how family can be just as complicated (if not more so) in death. Jess’ mother and Ah Ma had a strained relationship and the revelations Jess has as she learns why are both surprising and humorous (at least to me). When you take away the supernatural elements, you get a story about three generations of women who are learning how to speak to each other—something I understood because the relationship between mothers and daughters are complex, Asian or otherwise.
Throughout the story, Cho includes stories about various Chinese gods, some of which I had known about, though I mostly hadn’t. I really enjoyed learning about the different deities and what they represent. I also appreciated how Cho humanized the deities with personalities and qualities readers would recognize in their fellow human beings (I particularly enjoyed the deity who had no qualms sharing his thoughts on his offerings).
“Nuclear Family”
By Joseph Han
Counterpoint, 2022
Things are going well for Mr. and Mrs. Cho. They’re close to realizing their dream of franchising their Korean plate lunch restaurants, Cho’s Delicatessen, across Hawai’i (a visit from Guy Fieri helped boost their profile). Their daughter Grace is working for them while she finishes up her final year of college and their son Jacob just moved to Seoul to teach English.
Then a viral video shows Jacob attempting—and failing—to cross the Korean demilitarized zone, and nothing can protect the Chos from the fallout. Suspicion leads to waning restaurant sales, and each member deals with it all differently. From Grace getting more and more stoned, as her family becomes more and more undone, to Mr. Cho snapping at everyone, they all fear Jacob, detained by the South Korean government, will never be able to return home.
But what nobody knows is that Jacob has been possessed by the ghost of his lost maternal grandfather, whose wish is to cross the divide and find the family he left behind in the north.
Jumping to and from different characters’ perspectives and set in the months leading up to the 2018 nuclear missile false alarm, “Nuclear Family” is the story of a family confronting the things they don’t know about each other, as well as about themselves. And while so many points of view can sometimes get confusing, I enjoyed it. Reading how the different characters each reacted and responded to the situation helped paint a better picture of everything that is happening throughout the book.
Although the Chos’ separation from Daniel is the main plot, Han also explores the separations the family has experienced over the decades and for generations. This is a theme many people—especially those with immigrant backgrounds—can relate to. Han’s approach is heartfelt and at times, hilarious—reminding us there’s beauty and light, even in the darkest of times.
Samantha can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.