Even though young adult is no longer my normal, I feel I'm a little more lenient with middle grade. Lily is a Chinese American living an hour outside of Seattle. Un most people with a Chinese background, Lily is Hui Muslim. While I knew a bit about the Uyghurs in Western China, I knew next to nothing about the Hui. I would have d that to be expanded upon, but perhaps it won't hold young people's attention.

any other young person, Lily is a little bit on the dramatic side. The only other Chinese American at school, Max, is Lily's self proclaimed rival. Obviously, a little more is happening under the surface, but Lily doesn't realize until much later.

Lily and her friends are Buffy fans, which won them some points with me. Vampire slaying, forever! They are also part of the acting troupe that puts on plays. As always, there is more drama that is associated with this.

The thing with the most drama of all? The Chinese community center is going to be torn down and turned into fancy offices! Oh no! What to do? Don't worry. They figure it out. Along with some lessons about what gender and so forth is "allowed" to do the lion dance. Don't worry. That went in the direction I wanted it to.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.54 s2 comments Allie Genia107 4

This book was such a fun read!! I loved it - Lily, her friends, and her family told a wonderful and heartwarming story about the power of community and relationships. I'm really glad I had the chance to read it early (thank you NetGalley for the advance read). I'm looking forward to recommending this book to my kiddos at the library, particularly those who are looking for Chinese American representation. I'll look forward too to seeing it on our shelves!2 s Brittany471 35 Read

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred . I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

This was so lovely! I need more middle grade in my life, and this absolutely scratched that itch.

I loved that we got to read about a 12-year-old Hui (Chinese Muslim) kid, and Lily was so genuine in her curiosity, passion, envy, and hope. I loved the academic rivalry she had with Max, a classmate whose parents are land developers and want to buy the community center that her parents' Chinese school is based out of.

The "save the family business"/"save the community center!" plot was so precious, familiar, and yet, still felt as if it could stand on its own. Lily's friendships and her fascination with Buffy the Vampire Slayer was so sweet. Her yearning to attend Emerald City Comic Con with her friends was perfectly portrayed! I truly felt I was read in the first-person POV of a 12-year-old who was trying her best to not disappoint her friends and community center, even though she was being pulled in different directions. I appreciated how conflicted she felt and how she grappled with the guilt she felt over lying, and felt it was true to how a 12-year-old would assess the situation.

I appreciated the subplot of the dance teacher Vivienne with Lily's Auntie Li, which I did not see coming at all. That was a fun little tangent! We stan a bit of queer representation, especially in Chinese American communities!

I would absolutely read from Diana Ma again in the future, and I'll be buying this for the kids in my life who are middle-grade age! 1 Ms. Yingling2,455 496

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Lily's parents run a Chinese school which meets in the local community center, so Lily and her brother attend classes there. The center is having a hard time financially, especially since the building is older and in need of repairs. Lily knows that her parents are trying to help with a fundraiser, but an enormous amount of money is needed for the residents to buy the building. In addition to this worry, Lily is at odds with a boy at school, Max. The two have a long standing rivalry, at least from Lily's point of view. She is still angry because he read more books than she did, especially since they were short books and she was finishing the last in a long fantasy series. As part of the fund raiser, one of Lily's mother's friends, Vivienne, comes to teach the children in the school a Chinese dragon dance. Vivienne, who is somewhat famous and lives in the city, is the one who has been sending Lily and her brother mysterious gifts, and there seems to be some unexplained tension between the women. Max comes to visit the Chinese school, even though he is attending a larger and more prestigious one in a larger urban area, and he happens upon the dancers, and turns out to be a good dancer himself. On top of all of this, Lily is trying to film a fan fiction version of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer with her good friends Lauren and Kelli, hoping to submit the film to a local contest, and go to a nearby ComicCon with these friends. She's hiding this from her friends at Chinese school and her parents, which causes increasing tensions as her friends don't understand why she doesn't show up for all of their plans. Max turns out to be a decent guy, and Lily's friends tell her that they must each other, but when Max's parents have a plan not only to buy the community center, but to tear it down and build a multi-use office building, she's angry. Is there a way for the center to continue, and will Lily be able to keep her world from shifting drastically?
Strengths: This was an interesting look at a particular community. I loved the community center and the wide range of activities that were hosted there. Lily has several interests and is trying to balance everything, which is a very realistic take on middle school. I loved that she wasn't happy to blindly accept that girls did the fan dances and only boys could be the dragon in the number that was being performed. I'm not usually a fan of the enemy-to-lovers trope, but this had a twist; Max had always found Lily interesting, and the "rivalry" was pretty much all on her part. Tween readers will savor all the levels of drama that this has.
Weaknesses: Lily is not very understanding of the feelings of others, and seems to create some of her own problems by being very inflexible. Also, Max's parents were very sympathetic when approached about the problems with the new center, so I was surprised that this ended the way it did. I imagine that the building that houses the center needs MAJOR updates!
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are concerned about changes in their community and have enjoyed books Giles' Take Back the Block , Reed's Simon B. Rhymin' Gets in the Game, or Dilloway's Five Things About Ava Andrews.1 Sarah Pearson28

Seventh-grader Lily Hong has a lot on her plate. She’s working on her Buffy video with her best friends for a filmmaking competition; competing for the top spot in class with obnoxious arch-rival Max Zhang; and attending the Chinese school her parents run out of the local community center. Then she learns the community center is in serious trouble—$100,000 of it. If they can’t raise the money through her mom’s first-ever Chinese dance show, it will be sold to Max’s developer parents. A dance show that Lily—a seriously mediocre dancer—now has to participate in alongside Max. While trying to balance everything, Lily grows closer to Max… right up until the little white lies she’s been telling to keep everyone happy balloon out of control. Can she make things right with the people she cares about, save the community center, and rediscover what she really wants?

Diane Ma’s Lily is a fully-realized character with strengths and weaknesses that naturally spring from one another: she’s clever, but judgmental and quick to take offense; tenacious but intransigent; and spirited but hyper-competitive. Most of the other characters are not drawn with as much dimension, but their interplay with Lily is always interesting to read. Humor, interpersonal drama, and tweenage awkwardness dominate the novel, but Ma also manages to touch on issues as varied as gentrification, the difficulty of balancing personal goals with familial expectations, and how easy it is to lose the joy of personal passions.

Readers will alternately enjoy and groan at Lily’s antics (be prepared for LOTS of secondhand embarrassment!), and Ma does a nice job of balancing the action of the A and B plots with calmer side moments. Recommended for fans of the one-sided-rivals-to-first-crush dynamic; think Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.

[Note: Lily and her family are Hui (Chinese Muslims). Lily’s aunt has a subplot with a woman she once loved, though no term is ever used to describe their relationship. Lily’s friend Lauren reads as Black and her friend Kelli reads as white.]

Recommended for ages 8-13. Thanks to HarperCollins for the copy via the Southeast Ohio Young Adult Media Group.mg-fic-contemporary-realistic mg-fic-romance mg-fic-romance-rivals ...more Amy438 9

I love this book for so many reasons. I love the friendships and the lessons learned about how to be a good friend. I love the strong ethnic identities of the students, and the conflict that that sometimes includes. I love the cooperation and community ties. I love that none of the characters are perfect - each has their own weaknesses, but those imperfections are not treated as flaws, but as another means to celebrate differences and inclusion. I love that as an American teaching in China, it bridges the cultural divide so beautifully and is something that students in both countries would find interesting and engaging. I love that I could have it in my classroom library in both countries and know that all the students would enjoy reading it and finding different things of interest in it. I especially love that my Chinese students will see themselves in a Western book and will be able to identify with a character they read about in English.

This is very clearly a middle grades book - it's not trying to be anything more or less, and I love that, as well.

I really enjoyed Lily and her friends and family and look forward to future books from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Clarion Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. Therearenobadbooks972 23

This novel has a fantastic cast, the main character is energetic and as the title points out unbeatable, she slows down for nothing. 


Lily is twelve and into making fantasy movies, a huge geeky fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and comic cons. She has amazing and loyal friends and a great plan to succeed in her double life as belonging to her middle-grade school life but also her Chinese community. For a while, she keeps all separated and juggles both areas as distinct problems to solve but there is just so much this energetic pre-teen can do. Her archenemy turns out to be a good listener and friend. Then all her plans crumble but she doesn't quit. 


This is an exciting read with a rom-com vibe. I love the twists and misunderstandings that just make us turn the page to see how she is going to tackle the next difficulty. I love a character that is not perfect but gives her best to improve.


This is an author that I will be on the lookout for her next middle-grade project. It reminded me of Turning Red which is one of my favorite animations.


Thank you, publisher and Netgalley for this e-ARC.  Patti474 15

I really enjoyed this book! The thing I love about middle grade books is that there is always hope. Always optimism. Even when things look bleak. And this one had a lot of it. It also had a lot of humor, wonderful characters, great friendships, a crush or two, and a fun plot to keeps things interesting.

There is also an important theme around community and how something a community center can really bring people together. The message was subtle but beautifully woven into the story.

Let's talk about Lily Hong. She is incredible. I adored her. She is a filmmaker at heart but puts her all into everything. Lily was hilarious and witty and quick thinking and always up to something. I think we all know kids Lily and embrace the chaos that surrounds them.

Lily and her friends decide to save the community center where her mom's Chinese school, plus a lot of other clubs and businesses are at. It's wonderful to see how they come together and bring Lily's plan to life.

The representation was also terrific. Lily is Hui, Chinese Muslim, and her identity was such an important piece of this story.

A great story for kids ages 8 and up! Miny84 3

I had a lot of fun! I'm trying to read more middle grade in general especially because of GR eliminating that category in their awards this past year.
I'm a sucker for any book that has Chinese language in it of course and most Chinese Americans will know the busy day of school and Chinese school. Lily and her friends are a fun bunch - they feel pre-teens and have the dreams of pre-teens. It's a book I would have very much loved when I was growing up to see people who had my shared experience in text. It was also cool to see Hui Chinese represented, which I don't often see.
Save the Chinese school/community center is always a fun storyline mixed in with Lily's conflict to balance her school friends and her Chinese school friend Tina. Christine Piepmeier777 8

Lily is a seventh grader who loves making films. However, when she is forced to be part of a Chinese dance group, she finds herself drawn in many directions. It takes her realizing she needs the support of her friends to figure out balance and save her community center.

I found Lily to be unable at first, but she has a lot of growth throughout the book! I a lot of the messages the book had, although I think the crushes on each other could have been a more minimal storyline. There is one line at the end that makes it seems Lily thinks Max loves her??? And that was just weird with them being twelve. I do think though the messages about community and friendship outweigh that!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Yvonne1,105 6

This is probably about as exciting as a kids' book can get. Music would be ab even nicer addition. It teaches tolerance and understanding of kids whose parents are of different heritage. It also discusses expectation management which is super important for highly scheduled children of today. Friendship management is also a main theme. I recommend this for 4th grade and up although the main characters are in middle school. I found the Chinese pronunciation to be a little off but exposure is what's important.audio children Suzy819

Lily is a really great character who doesn't give up at all costs. She has great friends and an arch nemesis who might actually turn out to be a good friend.
This is a really cute middle grade book, with a great message of not giving up even when things get out of whack.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!adult-fiction Melinda103

middle school book. Main character chinese muslim, takes place in small town outside of seattle. Picked it up because I heard a review. Read thinking that I might give to Kiley, but I don't think I can. (Due to one gay adult relationship storyline.) Book is entirely G ratedThis entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review Clarissa1,341 43

Unbeatable Lily Hong by Diana Ma

Lily has been academic rivals with Max Zheng since 5th grade. Max dresses in fancy designer clothes that Lily’s family can’t afford, and lives in the posh gated community, that his real estate developer parents built. Lily’s parents run a Chinese school in the local community center.

Lily has two close friends who work with her to make films which she writes and directs. Max also s to make films, so this is another area of rivalry. Lily finds out that the community center is in financial trouble, and may close, which would be a disaster for her parent's school. Max’s parents want to tear down the center to put up a high rise office building. The community center is going to throw a fundraising show featuring all the groups who use it, in an effort to save it. At the same time Lily and her friends are trying to create a film to submit for an annual town contest.

The rehearsals for Lily’s film are at almost the same time as the Chinese dance rehearsals for the fundraiser. Lily is scared to let her friends down by telling them that she has to cut their time short, so she keeps ducking out of film rehearsals early, and arriving late to the dance rehearsals. Instead of explaining her rehearsal conflict to her friends, Lily doesn’t explain the situation, and tells some lies.

This was a heartwarming story with some funny scenes, and a plot that moved along briskly. I really enjoyed the passion that Lily and her friends brought to their artistic projects, and the scenes of the film that they were working on. It felt an authentic middle school Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired production, that also integrated present day enthusiasm for social issues: “The Chosen One Slays Big Business on the Hellmouth.”

I generally don’t plots that revolve around a character telling lies, but despite this preference the book was so engaging that I zoomed through it.middle-grade-fiction-read-2024 Fionna46 3

read for children's lit class. definitely not the target audience but I thought it was a compelling story, albeit a little too busy at points. childrens ebooks middle-grade ...more Andrea532 114

3.5/5bipoc-authored books-2024 children-s-and-middle-grade-books Bookishrealm2,538 5,847

This book was absolutely charming and cute. If you're interested in hearing more of my thoughts on this one, be sure to check out my video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQxWH...aapi-rep books-read-in-2024 middle-grade-realistic-fiction2 s Anne4,779 49

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