Publishers Weekly
06/12/2023
Seventeen-year-old Francine Zhang must convince her conflict-averse classmate Ollie Tran to honor Francine’s A Guˉng’s dying wish in this feel-good novel by Quach (Not Here to Be Liked). After Francine learns that her grandfather worries about not having a male heir to carry on the family traditions, she approaches estranged friend Ollie with “The Plan”: “Could you pretend to be my A Guˉng’s honorary male heir?” Since Ollie is also of Chinese Vietnamese descent, and the teens’ families are old friends, he seems an ideal, if unwilling, candidate. When his concerns surrounding lackluster extracurriculars on his college résumé become prevalent, however, he agrees to the ploy in exchange for Francine’s help in joining a club. As Francine confronts the self-imposed pressure to be a perfect problem solver and Ollie’s membership in the school’s Multicultural Club forces him to connect with his family in new and unfamiliar ways, romantic feelings blossom. While a quick resolution somewhat deflates the protagonists’ arcs, Quach spins, via Francine and Ollie’s alternating perspectives, an emotionally raw portrait of two seemingly opposite teens as they come together to help alleviate each other’s personal challenges and grow romantically closer in the process. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (Aug.)
From the Publisher
"Michelle Quach’s effortlessly flowing prose is steeped in love and kindness. Readers will rejoice as they witness Francine and Ollie movingly come to accept their families, each other, and most important, themselves. Totally in love with this novel.” — Loan Le, author of A Pho Love Story
"Quach shines with this fresh and layered story that is both a coming-of-age journey and a first-love romance. Themes of familial obligations and filial piety are prevalent and are handled with humor, deftness and care. A page-turner from start to finish!" — Suzanne Park, author of Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous
"Insightful and emotionally resonant." — Kirkus Reviews
"Quach spins, via Francine and Ollie’s alternating perspectives, an emotionally raw portrait of two seemingly opposite teens as they come together to help alleviate each other’s personal challenges and grow romantically closer in the process." — Publishers Weekly
"Quach does a good job with her empathetic characters as their perspectives alternate, and the seamless introduction of elements of Chinese Vietnamese culture is a bonus." — Booklist
PRAISE FOR NOT HERE TO BE LIKED: "A fresh take on high school and activism." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A great feminist read.” — San Francisco Book Review
“Not Here to Be Liked is a truly excellent book.” — NPR Books
School Library Journal
10/01/2023
Gr 7 Up—When Francine's grandfather is diagnosed with cancer, he tells her mother that he regrets not having a male heir and wishes they had been rich enough to enact a traditional custom of doing an honorary adoption. While upset at the inherent sexism, Francine wishes to make her grandfather's final months more peaceful and ropes her old crush and family friend, Oliver, into pretending to be his honorary male heir. Ollie has long avoided overly earnest Francine but agrees to her plan in exchange for help with his Multicultural Club project. As they spend time together, they grow closer, but their fledgling relationship may be threatened by family secrets that are also revealed. In this novel told in alternating perspectives, there is a lot of depth to Quach's characters and relationships with their families, exploring issues of traditions, duty to family, and how history reverberates through generations (their Chinese-Vietnamese families knew each other before immigrating to the United States). The balance of the heavier issues with Francine and Ollie's humorous antics and fun burgeoning romance works well, although the ending is a bit rushed and tidy. VERDICT A rom-com with a lot of heart and surprising depth, this is recommended for most collections.—Jennifer Rothschild
Kirkus Reviews
2023-05-09
When 17-year-old Francine Zhang overhears her dying grandfather expressing regret at not having any direct male descendants, she comes up with The Plan: find a boy to be A Gūng’s (fake) honorary heir.
Classmate Ollie Tran is the perfect candidate: Like Francine, he’s Chinese Vietnamese American; he speaks enough Cantonese to chat with A Gūng; and their families have known each other since before they came to the U.S. It makes sense that he’d follow the old custom of assuming the role of male heir for a family that needs one to look after their ancestors. Ollie has no desire to get involved, however. He knows how devoted Francine is to her family but has kept his distance ever since an awkward incident in middle school. Ollie also has his own problem: His strategy of exerting the least amount of effort at school to produce decent results means he has little to show for extracurricular activities. With Francine’s help, Ollie joins the Multicultural Club, where he’s asked to host a booth at their annual fundraising event and showcase his family history, about which he knows little. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, this story highlights the interweaving of family and tradition and how this impacts ways love is demonstrated. Francine and Ollie are appealing and three-dimensional characters with opposite personalities that turn out to be unexpectedly complementary when they team up to figure out solutions to each of their challenges.
Insightful and emotionally resonant. (Fiction. 13-18)
