Name: It's Boba Time for Pearl Li!
ISBN: 9780063228634

Nicole Chen

It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li! has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

It's Boba Time for Pearl Li!

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Taiwanese American MC and characters, Chinese character, Taiwanese characters, Indian American character, Indian characters

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, contemporary, amigurumi, crochet, crafts

Explanation of Above: There are mentions of racism and sexism in this book.

Synopsis: Pearl Li is ready to spend the summer before seventh grade hanging out with her two best friends, crocheting the cutest amigurumi dolls, and visiting her favorite tea shop, Boba Time. Its quirky owner, Auntie Cha, is the only adult Pearl can confide in about her art—if only her tech-obsessed family would understand her love of crafts!

After Pearl learns of Boba Time’s financial troubles, she decides to sell her amigurumi to raise money for the shop. But as she navigates the ups and downs of running a business, Pearl realizes that monetizing her passion is more complicated than she could’ve ever imagined. Can Pearl save Boba Time before it’s too late?

Review: This is a book for lovers of crafts, especially crochet! The book revolves around our MC who is a crochet-er. She perfected the art from her friend who runs a boba tea shop, but when the business is in danger of being shut down our MC puts her skill to the test to make more amigurumi to sell to others in hopes of raising money to save the business. The book was so fun and had a lot of good conversation about modern skill (like coding) vs older skills (like crochet) and how they are different but intersect in some ways. The book also explained running a business well and gave good tips for anyone who might be interested in doing so or using the internet in some way to drive up engagement for other things. The book was especially special to me since I just started crocheting amigurumi and I felt very connected with Pearl. I loved every moment of this book and basically binged it in a day. The character development and world building were amazing, the story was fantastically written, and the book gave me a drive to practice and perfect my crochet skills.

The only thing I really had a little issue with is that the ending felt a little rushed, but the book is perfect regardless.

Verdict: A crochet lover’s dream book! Highly recommend!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li!

 

Author: Nicole Chen

 

Book Series: Standalone

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Diversity: Taiwanese American MC and characters, Chinese character, Taiwanese characters, Indian American character, Indian characters

 

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, contemporary, amigurumi, crochet, crafts

 

Publication Date: February 28, 2023

 

Genre: MG Contemporary

 

Age Relevance: 8+ (racism, sexism)

 

Explanation of Above: There are mentions of racism and sexism in this book.

 

Publisher: Quill Tree Books

 

Pages: 350

 

Synopsis: Pearl Li is ready to spend the summer before seventh grade hanging out with her two best friends, crocheting the cutest amigurumi dolls, and visiting her favorite tea shop, Boba Time. Its quirky owner, Auntie Cha, is the only adult Pearl can confide in about her art—if only her tech-obsessed family would understand her love of crafts!

 

After Pearl learns of Boba Time’s financial troubles, she decides to sell her amigurumi to raise money for the shop. But as she navigates the ups and downs of running a business, Pearl realizes that monetizing her passion is more complicated than she could’ve ever imagined. Can Pearl save Boba Time before it’s too late?

 

Review: This is a book for lovers of crafts, especially crochet! The book revolves around our MC who is a crochet-er. She perfected the art from her friend who runs a boba tea shop, but when the business is in danger of being shut down our MC puts her skill to the test to make more amigurumi to sell to others in hopes of raising money to save the business. The book was so fun and had a lot of good conversation about modern skill (like coding) vs older skills (like crochet) and how they are different but intersect in some ways. The book also explained running a business well and gave good tips for anyone who might be interested in doing so or using the internet in some way to drive up engagement for other things. The book was especially special to me since I just started crocheting amigurumi and I felt very connected with Pearl. I loved every moment of this book and basically binged it in a day. The character development and world building were amazing, the story was fantastically written, and the book gave me a drive to practice and perfect my crochet skills.

 

The only thing I really had a little issue with is that the ending felt a little rushed, but the book is perfect regardless.

 

Verdict: A crochet lover’s dream book! Highly recommend!

It's Boba Time for Pearl Li!

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