Girl in Reverse by Barbara Stuber (review)

In her 1951 Kansas City high school, Lily Firestone stands out like a sore thumb—she’s the only Asian student at school, and she’s suffering more harassment than ever now that the U.S. is fighting the North Koreans and Chinese in the Korean War. Lily’s parents, who adopted her when she was three, don’t like to talk about Lily’s birth parents, so Lily’s growing search for her pre-Firestone identity is aided by her mischievous but loyal little brother, Ralphie, and a kindly black janitor at the school who knows what it’s like to be a visible minority. With their support, she traces the story of her origins before her arrival at the city’s Catholic orphanage, finally discovering the identities of the Chinese woman she refers to as her “Gone Mom” and of her father. Stuber paints with clarity the homogeneousness of mid-century mid-America, where Lily’s father can blithely say in front of his Asian daughter that “Orientals are . . . shrewd” and racist newspaper cartoons are part of classroom current events. Lily’s detective work is absorbing, and her exploration of her heritage speaks to every teenager’s identity challenge, not just her own. Characterization is variable, though: Ralphie is a standout, but the supportive janitor falls into the Magical Minority trap, and Lily’s dream boy offers little to justify his dreaminess. Additionally, Lily’s backstory is an elaborate cinematic melodrama involving valuable artifacts, secret loves, and timely nun-offered revelations that’s absorbing but at odds with the nuanced realism of her identity quest. Lily’s journey is still an intriguing one, however, and readers may be drawn by the stark picture of mid-century mid-America.