This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian

THIS PLACE IS STILL BEAUTIFUL by XiXi Tian is a debut young adult novel which deals with an anti-Asian hate crime in a mostly White Illinois town. The two narrators, Annalie and Margaret, are mixed-race sisters who live with their Chinese mother after their White father has disappeared. Annalie is soon to be a senior in high school and dealing with issues related to popularity and dating. Margaret is older, more independent, and has gone off to school at NYU, but she returns for the summer after a racial slur is painted on their property. Tian emphasizes that the two sisters are quite different in appearance and personality while also raising questions about the “model minority” stereotype as well as unconscious bias. Students will find quite a bit to discuss in this book about race, about family relationships, and about the transition to college. One concern, though is that Annalie’s angst over her first boyfriend feels overly naïve and repetitive fairly quickly. Still, this title will likely appear on future state award nominee lists and would be an excellent book club or literature circle option. THIS PLACE IS STILL BEAUTIFUL received well-deserved starred reviews from Booklist (“an impressive first novel”), Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.