Blog Tour ~ This is Not My Home by Vivienne Chang and Eugenia Yoh ~ Review
Morning all!
A big big welcome to the Blog Tour for This is Not My Home by Vivienne Chang and Eugenia Yoh! So so excited to be part of the tour + being able to read this book! dances
For today’s post I got a 5+ starred review + a spotlight on the book!
Ready? Let’s get started! Whoo!
Review!
I received this book from TBR and Beyond Tours + the publisher in exchange of an honest review~
I just had to ask for a review when I saw this tour pop up! The book sounded right up my alley and I loved that the story was told as a picture book. The cover looked stunning so I knew that the art inside would be a treat~
What if your mom has big news (I just loved how the mom broke the news, first made a bit of a game of it and then calmly sat down and had a chat), and that news is that you are moving to Taiwan? What would you do? In our MCs case she first goes panicky and tells her mom all the things that she will be missing and I just could feel my heart break. And we see how it is affecting Lily later on. She stays grumbly. She is not understanding. She keeps on saying it is not her home. And I could understand. While I also can understand her mom who just wanted to be there for her family. To take care of someone.
But I am sorry, at times I had to laugh at seeing a very unhappy Lily in situations, because of the illustrations and what Lily said. Saying things like these are not my fireflies (um, heck no) or visiting a temple and stating that the buddha statue is not Jill.
My heart broke though for most of things that followed. Seeing Lily in school, with strange people all around her and a language she doesn’t understand. So confused. Without any friends. Without food she recognises. I just wanted to give her a big big hug.
Thankfully, she has her mom, and I just loved that her mom took a moment to talk to Lily. Give her a hug. Tell her that for mom this is all hers. The language. The food. The people. And that she is just hoping for Lily to understand and maybe to make it something for them. Which just had me awwing, OK, it was just too sweet and I just loved that the mom did this. Not just go angry or tell Lily to stop being such a grump. No, she understands and talks. Love it.
And what happens next? I was just smiling and crying at the same time. It was just perfection and beautiful and I just loved seeing the small chances. The small bits. And that last page, I just broke down. That was just so wonderful and I am just so happy for them.
The art was just absolutely stunning and I need more of the illustrator’s work + maybe some prints to hang on my walls. Because DANG.
All in all, highly recommended. A gorgeous book about finding home, about family, about love, and about getting used to strange things.
From debut author-illustrator duo Vivienne Chang and Eugenia Yoh comes a humorous and heartfelt reverse immigration story that will resonate across cultures and show us how a place can become home.
This is not my backyard barbecue.
This is not our car, these are not my fireflies.
This is not my farmer’s market and…
This is not my home.When Lily’s mom announces their family must move back to Taiwan to take care of her elderly Ah Ma, Lily is devastated to leave behind her whole life for a place that is most definitely not her home. But Lily soon realizes, through the help of her family and friends, what home means to them. And perhaps someday—maybe not today, but someday—it might become her home too.
Buy here:Amazon
Vivienne Chang and Eugenia Yoh met at Washington University in St. Louis. Eugenia studied Communication Design and now works at Chronicle Books. Vivienne studies Economics and is still stuck in St. Louis.
They hope to continue telling stories that simplify seemingly universal ideas through humor. When they are not discussing their next book concept, they can be found at a lake, a library, or in the yogurt section of Whole Foods. Who is this dog? We do not know. We found her in North Carolina.
