Cara Chow

Narrated by Nancy Wu. Here's a story for teens about a tiger mother with her claws out! Frances' single mother works all day and sacrifices so that someday Frances will get into UC Berkeley, become a doctor, and take care of Mommy. Frances is content enough with the plan until she is assigned a speech class by mistake and finds there are other options in life, thanks to her dynamic young teacher. If you've been raised by strict Asian parents you will cringe as Frances' lies and cover-ups mount, and then tense up when Frances' mother finds her out. Narrator Wu is the stern, ambitious mother we all fear and obey; her Chinese accent is spot on. **SPOILER** The only flaw for me was when Frances walks out on her mother at the end; other than the Chinese New Year card, did they not communicate at all? That loose end left me dangling.… (more)

Francis's mother, a divorced Chinese immigrant, has insisted that Francis get top grades in school so she can get into Berkeley and become a doctor. When she is accidently put into a speech class in her last year of high school, Francis discovers that she has a knack for public speaking and does not tell her mother that she is taking speech instead of calculus. She must hide her speech competitions from her mother since she is forbidden from taking part in extracurricular activies, having a job or dating since these will distract from her studies.… (more)