Her latest offering, Half and Half, sees her exploring the social and emotional intricacies of the life of Fiona, a girl whose father is Chinese and whose mother is Scottish. When she is asked to fill in a box on an application form for a dance class, she refuses to be trapped in a box either physically or metaphorically. Though she gives an equal weighting in her own mind to both her parents' heritage, Fiona (guiltily) feels more Chinese because of her father's stories.

Her confusion is not helped by her brother's cavalier treatment of the same issue. It gets even worse when both sets of grandparents come to visit Seattle for the annual folk festival. Fiona steps in for an injured ember of the Scottish dancing team run by his maternal grandfather but discovers she should be supporting her father at the same time in a storytelling session. These competing expectations are heightened by Ron's inability to take part in a kung fu exhibition at the festival creating even more potential for family tension and disagreement.

Despite the fact that the solution to the whole thing should have been obvious tens of pages from the end and that the whole scenario is slightly ridiculous, Namioka's charming style overcomes the cynicism. There is the inevitable debate about whether a kilt is a manly garment and the wonders of haggis. Add to that some hackneyed stereotypical statements about Scots and Chinese and some real doubts start to emerge.

But it all hardly seems to matter. Namioka's clear, crisp style is free of unnecessary embellishment and her ability to tell a readable story overrides objections of detail. Some readers will justifiably wonder why Fiona never seems to think of herself as American: but maybe that is just being churlish.

Paul McGuire
05 July 2003

Paul McGuire is a freelance author, writer and reviewer. He is also Deputy Principal of Sha Tin Junior School.

Read a PaperTigers' interview with Lensey Namioka.