I loved Penny and thought the author did a fantastic job of really capturing both how it feels to be a teenager and how it feels to parent one. For the end note, I just have no other things to say that I really like this book and this is a really great book.

The forthcoming book from 'We Are Not Like Them' authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride asks the question: Who gets to make the choice to be a mom? When Mika's 16 year old biological daughter, Penny, contacts her, Mika constructs elaborate lies to enhance her life. When the ruse inevitably fails, in part because of the interference of Mika’s difficult Japanese mother, Mika is left to try to forge new, more realistic bonds with Penny—and with Penny’s attractive adoptive attorney father Thomas. Readers of Emiko Jean’s young adult novels will not be surprised that she has tackled fiction for adults with grace and wisdom.This book is such a relatable book and fuck I have a soft spot for relatable and realistic fiction book. Jean ( Tokyo Ever After, 2021) sets her novel within the Asian American community of Portland, Oregon. In Jean’s breezy adult debut (after the Tokyo Ever After YA fantasy series), a woman encounters the daughter she gave up for adoption. This book tackles complex situations - Mika is contacted by Penny, the daughter she put up for adoption sixteen years before.

What follows is a heartfelt, funny and insightful tale of self discovery that explores the powerful bond between a parent and child.She is a mess, has no idea what she’s doing or who she is and makes some huge mistakes, but that is part of her charm and what makes her so relatable. It’s a difficult topic as obviously any adoption is good provided the parents are good, but sometimes just adopting a child from a different culture or race can be damaging.