Flipping

"Also, this book is for all the people who face their shortcomings and strive to reach their aspirations with courage."

"She has everything she needs to have a wonderful life. I don't want any of us giving her the idea that she is a poor victim or 'less than'."

Eichin Chang-Lim, relatively new to novel-writing, has produced a splendid book and proven herself to be worthy of keeping in mind. This novel is about many things, all of which it handles well. There is a tiny bit about life in Taiwan, there is immigration and integration to the U.S., there is adaption and family, there is romance, there are dreams. And, most importantly, there is Christa, a young girl with Usher Syndrome, which causes her to be deaf from birth and go blind later in life. It is a great underdog story from start to finish, but also so much more.

Let's start where the book does, with the love story of JonSun, a poor student, and SuAnn, a rich girl, in Taiwan. I liked Taiwan as an interesting setting with a culture that I (shame on me) thus far knew almost nothing of, but loved to be taught about. Especially since Chang-Lim does so in an informative way that does not read like non-fiction or a lexicon, while also not requiring previous knowledge. I liked the two characters as well, especially their romance: it was not steamy and sexy, but sweet and innocent - so far so that this adorable quote can show their opinion about kissing: "kiss - that was a glorious magnificence reserved for a special occasion".

Moving on, the couple flees from SuAnns disapproving family and moves to the U.S., where they make money flipping houses (this is where they contribute to the title). Their story ends for now when SuAnn gets pregnant and JoSun finds himself in the hospital praying to become father of sun (owned to his cultural background). With an amazing and funny transition, we land in the life of another couple, Mitch and Elliana, who are also at the moment in the hospital having their baby - Christa, our protagonist. In clever contrast to the other couple, they are desperate not to get a boy, because the family is full of them and the granny wishes for a granddaughter. But that just as an aside. Shortly after Christa's birth, the family adopts half-Chinese girl Jadelynn, and then finds out Christa is deaf. Here, I especially liked the conflict of the biological daughter being "imperfect", while the adopted one is not. It would have been to easy to have it the other way around.

Mitch and Elliana deal with the unexpected turn of destiny (this is where they contribute to the title) in an amazing way and very much reflecting their own feelings: "Were they mourning for their daughter's deafness? Or were they mourning for their dashed dream of the 'perfect child'?" In general, all the emotions seemed realistic and were presented in an amazing show-don't-tell way. Also: great kudos for the tolerant exploration and explanation of all the different options of "treatment" in the deaf-community. That was really amazing, even for me as an outsider, and reminded me a bit of Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity. At the same time, Chang-Lim of rarely goes beyond the scope of understanding of the average reader.

Christa goes on to be active and successful in gymnastics (her turn fitting the title "Flipping"), but later suffers from the news that she has Usher Syndrome and will go blind within a few years - or even less. She is also friends with JonSun and SuAnn's son Wynson, who helps her through this hard time by being an amazing friend (and a bit more). I especially liked the open and non-sugary ending of the novel, which nevertheless gave hope to everyone struggling with anything they can't change - be it physical or mental issues.

Now to the few negative points: I did not like the speed which with Chang-Lim raced through some of the plot (especially the parents' story) - there were really big jumps between episodes and I wished for more details in between. The other thing was the formulaic way of writing conflicts: challenge / problem - small change to life - immediate success - advance - next challenge soon after. Rinse and repeat. I would have liked to see them fail more often. After a while (again, especially heavy with the parents), there was no suspense whatsoever. I was actually relieved when a few non-solvable conflicts came up (death, loss of sight), but it is less than ideal if the reader feels relief when a good character dies.

Anyway: an honorary mention at the end goes toward the glossary, which was really helpful for both the hearing loss and the gymnastics topics, and which was well filled - in fact, maybe a little too well. I would guess readers know what a "cartwheel" and a "balance beam" are... To sum up: wonderful book with a great tolerant and informative way of dealing with disabilities and an amazing message on top of that.