Tian, XiXi. This Place Is Still Beautiful. Fiction. Balzer & Bray, 06/2022. 360pp. $18.99. 978-0-06-308602-9. HIGH ADDITIONAL. GRADES 8-12.
Flanagan sisters Annalie and Margaret, like many siblings, are not best friends and do not look like each other, but hopefully are learning to get along. Margaret, who looks like her single-parent Chinese mother, left their small Midwest town for college in New York. She quickly leaves a summer internship to help seventeen-year-old Annalie (who looks like their long absent white dad) deal with anti-Chinese graffiti scrawled on their garage door. Tian skillfully weaves in a few ethnic characters while showing how most of the town is white and clueless about racial issues. Also included are relationship problems, some due to race, and others to common teen angst issues. An interesting look at Midwest life for two biracial teens in a mostly white town.
Joshua Rees, Daly City Public Library