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Living with Viola
Living with Viola
Bibliography
Fung, Rosena. 2021. LIVING WITH VIOLA. Toronto, Canada: Annick Press. ISBN 9781773215495
Plot Summary
Olivia Tong is the daughter of Chinese immigrants that have moved to Canada to give her a better life. She works hard to be the perfect daughter and make her family proud. When her anxiety, which is a darker, more negative copy of her that she called Viola, begins to rear its ugly head at her when she starts at a new school, she must learn to love herself and embrace her heritage and realize that sometimes it's okay to not be okay.
Critical Analysis
Living with Viola is Rosena Fung's debut that explores how a young girl deals with her anxiety, cultural differences, and how to survive going to a new middle school. The main character, Oliva Tong, is representative of many young people: trying to make new friends, dealing with pressure from parents, not feeling like they are fitting in. What Fung does in her novel is highlight this kind of experience while paying special attention to Olivia's struggles with her Chinese American identity, which Fung herself has said she experienced at that age and which Asian American children and adults still experience today.
In the novel, Olivia is constantly questioning whether she is coming across as "too Asian", such as when one of her friends makes fun of her food or when her one Asian American friend and her family are shown to be "more American" in their ways of living. These worries cause her anxiety to creep up on and taunt her, which is uniquely portrayed through a shadow-like figure identical to Olivia, but only in looks. This "Viola" is the devil on her shoulder, spouting negative thoughts and bringing Olivia to the point of isolating herself from her friends and family, giving up on activities she used to love, such as art and reading, and mentally drowning. What she learns by the end of the novel is to seek out help with those thoughts and learn how to control them.
Fung masterfully illustrates how mental illness can affect a person and what can be done to not let it become your identity. She shows pride in her Asian American identity through young Olivia and her immigrant parents, and how they embrace their culture despite the struggles they face with those that try to put them down. Living With Olivia is a wonderful book for those that need to see and understand that you are stronger than you realize and a beautiful person, wherever you come from.
Review Excerpts
Booklist: "In a world of growing distancing and isolation, especially for youth, Livy provides a gentle but solid reminder that change and happiness are indeed possible.
Publishers Weekly Starred: "Livy’s culturally specific concerns, including her family’s reluctance to discuss mental health, will resonate with diasporic readers, though the exceptionally poignant moments that arise from her work navigating her anxiety reinforce the importance of asking for help for any reader.:
School Library Journal Starred: "This deeply moving graphic novel will shake middle grade readers to the core and have them rooting for Livy. An essential purchase that illuminates the mental health issues with which many young people grapple."
Connections
More YA that Covers Mental Health: Just Roll With It by Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie
Buzzing by Samuel Sattin and Rye Hickman
Smaller Sister by Maggie Edkins Willis
Graphic Novels by Asian Americans: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
Stargazing by Jen Wang
Activity: Students consider cultural representation in the text by comparing and contrasting their own experiences with elements of the story.
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