Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold (through about page 30)
A couple years ago, I read an enjoyed Jane Lindskold’s Wolf books. I mean, sure, the plot consistently made less and less sense, but the characters were fun. Late last year, I picked up her Thirteen Orphans, a modern fantasy based on the Chinese Zodiac, but only just got around to trying it. I made it about 30 pages in.
Here’s a few examples of why, contained in 3 pages:
Brenda was not pretty, nor would she ever be so, but she was something far better-she was exotic and interesting.
Auntie Pearl didn’t look Chinese, though, or at least she didn’t look too Chinese. In her early films, she looked like a cute little girl whose straight dark hair was a nice contrast to Shirley Temple’s golden curls. In her later films, Auntie Pearl looked more exotic.
Dad didn’t look Chinese. He looked American.
So, Auntie Pearl is half-Chinese, and the main character, Brenda, and her father are of Chinese descent, but Brenda doesn’t know it. Brenda’s white-looking father is described as having good!shrewd business practices, and Auntie Pearl is apparently a saint. A fourth character, Albert Yu, is apparently a Chinese American who is not of mixed race, and he has bad!shrewd business practices that the others look down on. Oh, and immediately dies, and is apparently replaced by an evil doppelganger.
Also, Brenda is also described using “cues” meant to imply a character is of Asian descent (Tilted eyes, long, straight, loose dark hair, thin, flatchested, could pass for a boy from the back. Naturally, she has Major Body Issues.) but looks white and has apparently never thought that anyone in her ancestry could be white. The idea of a Chinese ancestor is shocking to her. From her description, I gather she looks like this, only with fewer curves.
I’m sorry, Kristin Kreuk. You deserve better than my deliberately bad photoshopping skills.