book nook: midnight at the dragon cafe

midnight at the dragon cafe
judy fong bates

the thing that drew me most to this book was the fact that it's centered around a chinese girl who grew up in canada, in a small town in ontario, after immigrating from china at a young age. as a canadian-born chinese female, i thought it would be a good fit.

this book tells the story of an immigrant family from china who makes the move to canada in search for a "better life". they end up owning a chinese restaurant out in the sticks and while there is no doubt that their immigration provides more opportunities for their daughter, their life is hard. plus there is the inherent tension that exists between the mash-up of chinese culture with canadian culture. oh, and there is definitely no shortage of drama in this family.

fong bates did a pretty good job of telling her story. while it isn't an autobiography per se, i think she probably drew from her own experience growing up in canada. i thought her writing style was good - clear and easily followable - but i found the strength of the story line to be inconsistent.

overall it was an ok read. i'm glad i read it, but it will be a book i only read once.