This Is Just A Test – Read Around the World Summer Series. This post contains affiliate links to support the maintenance of this website.
What is it like to live in three cultures as a tween?
There is the community culture that he connects with his friends at the school, in the neighborhood. A culture that is from Dad’s side. A Grandma who really knows how to properly arrange the bar mitzvah. And, there is one more. This one is from Mom’s side with a Chinese grandma who ensures the presence of the Chinese culture for the bar mitzvah.
David Da-Wei Horowitz is a Jewish Chinese American and his bar mitzvah is coming. He has a lot on his plate. His parents, his sister, his friends, the upcoming trivia tournament. And, his teammates, his two Grandmas who are both loving and dominant in their own way. In addition to all that, there is the digging of a fallout shelter with his friend.
Your tween and the whole family will enjoy this witty, funny, and heartwarming story that embraces the three cultures with the three generations!
Wendy Wan-Long Shang is the author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, and The Way Home Looks Now. Shang has brought the Chinese cultures alive in her light-hearted, touching and connecting The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. From the visiting Grandma to the deeper understanding of the Chinese heritage culture from the perspective of a sixth-grader Chinese American girl who is finding her identity and seeking her best year ever.
This Is A Test has captured our attention with a story told from the perspective of a tween who is Jewish, Chinese, and American. You will love the tension between the two Grandmas. There is tension and there is trust. There are cultural insights that embed so well in the story. You will smile and you can feel the emotions. There is empathy that helps David grow and thrive from the multicultural family.
Reading This Is A Test is a cultural experience. A place to see the challenges a child faces growing up in a multicultural family. This book is a treat with beautiful teaching moments from one chapter to the next. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
This Is Just A Test – Read Around the World Summer Series