Shelf Awareness--Never Thought I'd End Up Here

YA Review: Never Thought I'd End Up Here

Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang (Scholastic Press, 320p., ages 12-up, 9781546110675, June 3, 2025)

In the inviting Never Thought I'd End Up Here, Ann Liang (This Time It's Real) gives the classic enemies-to-lovers trope a fun, fish-out-of-water twist by forcing her Los Angeles-born heroine to take a trip to China with her (now handsome) childhood nemesis.

Seventeen-year-old Leah Zhang was convinced that being a model would turn her from the ugly duckling into the swan. It did, to some extent, but it was also "an all-consuming force" that colored in "every single aspect" of her life. Worse yet, Leah hates being stared at--a huge problem when she realizes she has to offer a toast in Mandarin at her superstitious cousin's wedding. Leah, who generally communicates with her Chinese relatives "via elaborate gestures" rather than the language she barely knows, is given tips on what to say. Stressed and nervous, she accidentally wishes the happy couple a "depressing marriage" and hopes they "fall ill quickly." Leah's horrified mother signs Leah up for a two-week trip to China to immerse her in the language and culture. Unfortunately, "evil" Cyrus Sui, the boy responsible for a deeply humiliating betrayal that "permanently stained" Leah's school records, is also attending.

The pair are repeatedly thrown together, first on the airplane, then as teammates in the group competition, and Leah realizes she can humiliate Cyrus for ruining her life by playing up her flirtation and grabbing hold of his heart. She decides she will demand a public display of "chocolates and balloons and streamers," then laugh "long and loud, right in his face." But first, Leah will need to make Cyrus want her, and she's not immune to his "solemn, dark gaze and the visible cut of his collarbone." To her dismay, Leah becomes increasingly more affected by Cyrus's unexpected tenderness--and his "enviably long" eyelashes.

Liang spins her story with plenty of verve, as Leah develops from being somewhat lost and self-absorbed to a thoughtful young adult. While Never Thought I'd End Up Here is first and foremost a romance, Liang uses humor to explore cross-cultural disconnect and investigate the development of self-worth: as Leah's China trip proves an opportunity for an awkward, "uncultured" girl to learn she is actually worthwhile and "interesting" enough to make her own life choices. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.

Shelf Awareness--Everybelly

PB Review: Everybelly

Everybelly by Thao Lam (Groundwood Books, 40p., ages 3-6, 9781773067643)

Everybelly is an amusing, original look at bodies and the idea of home, narrated by an inquisitive youngster who stands tummy-high to their neighbors.

One summery day, a child and their mother join neighbors at a local pool. Readers are first introduced to Mama, whose belly was where the narrator "used to live... until I grew too big." The brown-skinned child wears a flowery long-sleeved swim shirt, pink bottoms, and a polka-dot swim cap, as they discuss their neighbors. "Vibhuti's in a band. They know how to keep a beat"; an unnamed neighbor has a shy belly and prefers "pigeons to people" (which the kid understands because, likewise, they prefer "jelly beans to broccoli"). Also presented are neighbors with tattoos, wrinkled bellies, insulin pumps, appendicitis scars, stretch marks, and bellies that "make great tables." The diverse cast speaks to this child's easy acceptance of all bellies, though they do profess themselves puzzled by "flat" ones: Why do people "work hard to keep their bellies flat" when they can fill them with "ice cream topped with jellybeans, donuts in sprinkles, har gow, gimbap..."?

Everybelly showcases a delightful parade of funny, sweet, and sometimes misunderstood moments. Thao Lam (One Giant Leap) consistently employs a child-centric point of view in language and in her lively, innovative cut-paper collage illustrations. Brimming with goodwill, the child's cheerful spin on everything they encounter creates a welcome place for readers to feel at home. Indeed, Mama's belly, where the child used to live, bookends the story: the book closes with the child resting atop Mama's belly, a place that "will always feel like home." --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.