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19. Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time
Sep. 19th, 2011 04:41 pmStanford Wong Flunks Big Time is a companion novel to Lisa Yee's Millicent Min, Girl Genius, which I did not find impressive. Stanford Wong is a much more successful book, not least because it's not narrated by Millicent in unconvincing genius-speak.
(Even reduced to a secondary character, Millicent is still not a convincing genius. I think the culprit is the mismatch between her vocabulary and her grammar. Millicent's sentences are grammatically too simple to support the number of big words she uses, which makes her sound like she's only pretending to be super bright.)
But Stanford Wong has other strengths, too. In particular, Yee does an excellent job portraying Stanford's growth from sullen kid to decent young man. The change is fairly subtle, and Stanford is clearly only half-conscious of it, but it's also easily discernible if you look.
I do wish Stanford's friends had been more clearly differentiated. He has four of them, and there are flashes of complex group dynamics which I would have loved to see explored, but in the end the only one who doesn't blur into the others is the mean guy, Digger.
It's in the family relationships that Yee really shines. She allows Stanford's family a messiness and an ambiguity which makes them fascinating. Stanford's difficult relationship with his stern, undemonstrative father is probably the most interesting in the book. While by the end it's on the mend, it's also clear that, though Stanford's dad loves him, he does not and may never be able to really understand his basketball-obsessed son.
Fortunately, Stanford's mother and grandmother find Stanford delightful. His grandmother Yin-Yin is especially fun: feisty, forgetful, high-spirited but tinged with sadness, she's both a good companion for Stanford and a great character in her own right.
It's not a perfect book, by any means. But it's a big step up from Millicent Min, so I may look out for Yee's next book.
(Even reduced to a secondary character, Millicent is still not a convincing genius. I think the culprit is the mismatch between her vocabulary and her grammar. Millicent's sentences are grammatically too simple to support the number of big words she uses, which makes her sound like she's only pretending to be super bright.)
But Stanford Wong has other strengths, too. In particular, Yee does an excellent job portraying Stanford's growth from sullen kid to decent young man. The change is fairly subtle, and Stanford is clearly only half-conscious of it, but it's also easily discernible if you look.
I do wish Stanford's friends had been more clearly differentiated. He has four of them, and there are flashes of complex group dynamics which I would have loved to see explored, but in the end the only one who doesn't blur into the others is the mean guy, Digger.
It's in the family relationships that Yee really shines. She allows Stanford's family a messiness and an ambiguity which makes them fascinating. Stanford's difficult relationship with his stern, undemonstrative father is probably the most interesting in the book. While by the end it's on the mend, it's also clear that, though Stanford's dad loves him, he does not and may never be able to really understand his basketball-obsessed son.
Fortunately, Stanford's mother and grandmother find Stanford delightful. His grandmother Yin-Yin is especially fun: feisty, forgetful, high-spirited but tinged with sadness, she's both a good companion for Stanford and a great character in her own right.
It's not a perfect book, by any means. But it's a big step up from Millicent Min, so I may look out for Yee's next book.
