A Song for Ba

Rating:
Summary: Coming of age for a child and a way of life
Review: Wei, the child in this story, is the son and grandson of Chinese opera singers. At the beginning of the story, he idolizes the way of life his father and friends lead. His father, however, is nervous about the future of the Chinese opera in the new world, and steers his son towards excellence at school. His grandfather, however, secretly teaches Wei how to sing. The crucial difference between Wei's father and grandfather is that the former always sings the male roles and the latter always the female.

After his grandfather leaves, Wei is forced to see the downside of his father's job and what the opera's fading popularity might mean to his father and his own future. At the end of the story, Wei is able to save the day (or at least the performance), but the reader is left uneasy about Wei's (and his community's) future.

Though the author does not belabor the issues, he does drop hints about immigration, prejudice and class differences. While these might be lost on a younger reader, they will provide food for thought (and hopefully discussion) for the slightly older reader.