It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li!

Amirugumi. Bubble tea. Asian food. Math. Entrepreneurship. Creativity. Art. I love how all of these are integrated into one middle grade novel, It's Boba Time for Pearl Li by Nicole Chen.Pearl Li wants to help save her favorite bubble tea shop using the money she makes from selling her amirugumi. I loved the authentic mentions of Taiwanese food such as tea eggs, aiyu jelly, tofu pudding, peanut môa-chî, etc. I don't know if I ever read that in a children's book as a child. So great to see that represented here.I also like how the book differentiates the uniqueness of the Asian diaspora and doesn't assume we are a monolith. Pearl Li's best friend Priya of Indian descent has distinguishing cultural traditions that are different from Cindy's who is a more recent immigrant from Hong Kong and then different from Pearl who is Taiwanese American and born in the US. I also like how the conversations between friends, siblings, and parents and children are genuine and address tween struggles of living up to parental expectations.I like how this book reminds us to never underestimate what kids can do! I like how the back matter shows tables of how Pearl organized her business and net profit, capital, shipping costs, etc. I like how Pearl worked through constructive criticism and dealing with customer service.Other wonderful themes explored in this book are encouraging kids to take initiative and ownership for their ideas, building positive intergenerational relationships, how to navigate and resolve conflict in friendships, having integrity in business practices, and the importance of teamwork and community.

My 10 year old loves this book and has gifted it to all her friends, who also love this book!

I am in my 30s and you know sometimes we just need a break from adult life and reading about adult problems (atleast I do!) The cover and title totally caught my eye. Where were books like these when I was 12?! I loved this book so much. It has a great message about being creative, doing what you love and just being true to yourself! It's a great story from beginning to end. It will inspire you to get in touch with your creative side whatever that may be. It will also tempt you to get some boba!