Not Your All-American Girl

Warning: Not Your All-American Girl contains references to VCR’s, phone books, and telephones with cords. I may or may not have sulked off and hid in a corner to cry about the fact that these things are now considered “historical fiction”.

Luckily, this adorable and hilarious story about half-Chinese, half-Jewish, Lauren Le Yuan Horowitz put the smile back on my face. When the story begins Lauren, who loves to sing, tries out for the school play along with her best friend Tara. Although the entire student body agrees that Lauren has the superior audition the lead part is given to Tara because she looks more “All American”. Anyone who has ever been passed over in favor of someone who “fits in better” will feel the sting right along with Lauren. Especially since Tara confronts their teacher who confirms that the decision was made solely based on appearances and “audience expectations”. She goes so far as to suggest Lauren is lucky to be in the ensemble.

As a writer of Jewish young adult sci fi, I found myself empathizing hard with Lauren’s plight. She wants to support her best friend, to be happy with the role in the ensemble she has been given, but there’s this niggling feeling that she is being held back by forces outside of her control. By the fact that she does not look the part. She begins to wonder where else she does not belong because she is both Jewish and Chinese. At one point she doubts that Jewish people can sing country music or become astronauts and travel to space.

Ouch Lauren. You might as well take my SFF loving heart and crush it between your small Middle School hands.

However, as the story progresses Lauren and Tara learn the true meaning of allyship, how to stand up for each other, how to maintain their friendship even when others try to tear it apart.

Lauren also learns to find solace within a group – she becomes a leader of the others in the ensemble – and to challenge her own assumptions. When she heads to a radio station and meets her favorite country music DJ, Nashville Nick, she is surprised to learn he is black. So is the reader. Because we too have been making implicit assumptions about who belongs in country music.

And that is the brilliance of this book. It is hilarious and entertaining but it doesn’t shy away from deep questions. I found it appropriate for the young middle grade set but entertaining enough for an adult reader to enjoy as well. Perhaps, if we all learn to examine our implicit bias the way Lauren and Tara do then our current assumptions of who and what an “All American” girl looks like will go the way of VCR’s and telephones with cords. Anachronisms that we are so much better off without.

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