Bitter+Melon+-+Cara+Chow

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

Fei Ting is a girl both physically and verbally abused by her tiger-mom. Nothing is ever good ebough for Fei Ting's mother, and when she doesn't live up to her mom's unrealistic and unreasonable standards, she is faced with harsh physical beatings and the pain of being called "useless" and "brainless." When Fei Ting heading into her last year of high school, her mom already has her life planned out for her. Fei Ting - who's name means "stop flying" - is supposed to take Calculus so she can get into UC Berkeley when she goes to college, so she can study to be a doctor and find a cure to her mother's sickness. She had never put much thought into what //she// wanted to do herself, having always listened to her mom for everything she did and desperately seeking the approval she knew she'd never recieve.

On her first day of her senior year, Fei Ting looks at her schedule while she's in her Speech class - and Calculus is missing from the schedule. It appears that they switched Calculus for Speech, and she knew that if she didn't transfer out soon, she wouldn't have enough time to switch, and she would have to face the wrath of her mother. However, Fei Ting finds that she //likes// Speech, and she doesn't want to take Calculus. She ends up keeping Speech and hiding that fact from her mother.

Things get more out of hand when she misses her college-prepatory class at Princeton to attend Speech rehersals and competitions. Her situation becomes worse and worse as her lies get more and more out of hand, and soon she has to make a choice: continue to follow her mom's teachings, or follow her heart and break from the abuse she's faced all her life?

This book was absolutely amazing. I found myself rooting for Fei Ting whole-heartedly, and I could feel my stomach lurch and my heart beat faster with anticipation hoping things would go her way. I have thrown the book at the wall three times out of frustration. I really connected to Fei Ting, like she was a real person - and I guess, in my mind, she //is// be a real person. Fei Ting is an inspiring character, and I will always cherish the experience of watching her spread her wings and fly.