Chinese girl faces racism and censorship in timely tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a little
Racism and bullying are significant parts of the story. Kids call Lina "Leftover Lina" because her parents left her behind in China when they moved to America with her younger sister. Characters also make fun of Lina because she's still learning English and sometimes mixes up her words and mispronounces them. Lina and her family are told not to speak Chinese at the farm. A girl vandalizes a bathroom stall with hurtful comments about Lina's English skills. A character's mom tries to get a graphic novel banned at Lina's school. Lina's parents are worried about making enough money to pay for their back rent from the pandemic. Finn's dad gets angry and drops Finn's library book onto a greasy pizza.
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Lina's grandma tells her that boys and girls can't be friends. Boys at school make fun of Finn and say he likes Lina. At one point, Lina questions if she thinks Finn is cute.
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Friendship, family, kindness, communication, empathy, courage, and perseverance are important themes. Remember that you are important. Keep dreaming, believing, and speaking up for yourself. Books help people develop empathy. Mistakes are how you grow. Never let people treat you poorly for being an immigrant.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Lina and her family are kind, empathetic, courageous, and determined. Lina's kind, caring, and supportive teachers believe in her, make her feel welcome, and want her to succeed. Finn and Carla are great friends to Lina, who convince her to stand up for herself. The characters teach each other how to fight back against racism and censorship.
Educational Value
some
Readers will learn about racism and the immigrant experience, sustainability, organic farming, climate change, and censorship.
Diverse Representations
a little
Centers on a recent Chinese immigrant to the United States and her family. Also includes Guatemalan and Black characters. Lina is an ELL (English language learner) student. Finn doesn't like sports.
Parents need to know that Kelly Yang's Finally Seen is a timely tale about a 10-year-old Chinese girl named Lina who faces racism and censorship when she moves to America to be with her family. Readers will also learn about the immigrant experience, sustainability, organic farming, and climate change. Important themes include friendship, family, kindness, communication, empathy, courage, and perseverance. Diverse representations include Chinese, Guatemalan, and Black characters. Racism and bullying are significant parts of the story. Kids call Lina "Leftover Lina" because her parents left her behind in China when they moved to America with her younger sister. Characters also make fun of Lina because she's still learning English and sometimes mixes up her words and mispronounces them. Lina and her family are told not to speak Chinese at the farm. A girl vandalizes a bathroom stall with hurtful comments about Lina's English skills. A character's mom tries to get a graphic novel banned at Lina's school. Lina's parents are worried about making enough money to pay for their back rent from the pandemic. Finn's dad gets angry and drops Finn's library book onto a greasy pizza. Lina's grandma tells her that boys and girls can't be friends. Boys at school make fun of Finn and say he likes Lina. At one point, Lina questions if she thinks Finn is cute. Characters use variations of "stupid," "butt," "nerd," and "shut up."
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What's the Story?
Ten-year-old Lina Gao is excited to finally be reunited with her parents and younger sister, Millie. After all, it's been five years since they moved to California and left her behind in Beijing with her grandma. But life in America isn't how her mom described it in her postcards. First, Lina wonders if her parents like Millie more than her since she isn't in any of the family photos. Her dad does grueling fieldwork for a racist organic farmer who says he'll help them get their green card. And her mom runs an Etsy bath bomb business out of their one-bedroom apartment so that they can pay their back rent from the pandemic.
On top of that, Lina has been struggling at school after her classmates bully her for mispronouncing words in English. With the help of her caring, supportive teachers, Lina discovers graphic novels that make her feel like she belongs. But what happens when a parent tries to ban Lina's favorite book from the classroom? Will Lina find the courage to speak up so she's FINALLY SEEN at school and home?
This is a timely tale for kids about family, friendship, communication, courage, and perseverance. Yang continues to do an excellent job describing the immigrant experience, including the racism and discrimination that immigrants face at school and in the workplace. It's hard to be the new kid in school, but even more so when you can't communicate with your classmates. Readers will love the kind, caring, and supportive teachers who believe in Lina, make her feel welcome, and want her to succeed. As Finally Seen progresses and Lina's love for reading and graphic novels grows, kids will understand how books help develop empathy and see the importance of speaking up for yourself.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Finally Seendeals with immigration, racism, and bullying. How do these issues affect the characters?
Talk about the various kinds of diversity in the novel. Why are diverse representations important in children's and young adult literature?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Amanda Nojadera
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
