Mona in the Promised Land: A Novel

By Gish Jen

From the acclaimed, award-winning author of Thank You, Mr. Nixon comes a “hilariously funny and seriously important” novel (Amy Tan) about American multiculturalism and a Chinese American teenager doing her best to fit in–even if it means converting to Judaism.

In these pages, acclaimed author Gish Jen introduces us to teenaged Mona Chang, who in 1968 moves with her newly prosperous family to Scarshill, New York. Here, the Chinese are seen as "the new Jews." What could be more natural than for Mona to take this literally—even to the point of converting? As Mona attends temple "rap" sessions and falls in love (with a nice Jewish boy who lives in a tepee), Jen introduces us to one of the most charming and sweet-spirited heroines in recent fiction, a girl who can wisecrack with perfect aplomb even when she's organizing the help in her father's pancake house. On every page, Gish Jen sets our received notions spinning with a wit as dry as a latter-day Jane Austen's.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307826589

Reviews for Mona in the Promised Land

[elvisettey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Important note: Read Jen's first novel FIRST, and then the end of Mona won't seem too slapdash and tacked-on, too easy. You really need the context of the first novel to get the full impact of that one.That said, the characters are great individuals, individually lovable and frustrating and exasperating-- in other words, they're people. And they're teenagers in the 1960s, with racial tension stretching from China and Japan's conflict to black and white clashes. Protestant and Jewish clashes. And in all of this, Jen maintains a high level of downright hilarity. She's a wonderful writer, and this is one book you won't want to return to the library.

[purlewe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am a huge fan of Gish Jen. I don't know when I first encountered her, but I like her stories about growing up in America.

[auraesque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A quick read interesting but not a book I'd read again. It was okay.

[prop2gether · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute story premise--the young Chinese-American in the the sixties who decides to become a Jew, but the story rapidly loses its focus and momentum. Short episodes fill out the book from about the half-way point, and the ending was seriously disappointing in trying to explain every story line.

[autumnesf · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is the second about this family. You really need to read the first book about Mona's parents, immigrants from China, to understand where Mona is coming from at times (Typical American is the name of the first book). The book is about a first generation American Born Chinese girl and her teenage years. I love that she decides she is Jewish and converts. An interesting look at being a minority and learning to adapt and finding your place in the world.

[ijustgetbored · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Important note: Read Jen's first novel FIRST, and then the end of Mona won't seem too slapdash and tacked-on, too easy. You really need the context of the first novel to get the full impact of that one.That said, the characters are great individuals, individually lovable and frustrating and exasperating-- in other words, they're people. And they're teenagers in the 1960s, with racial tension stretching from China and Japan's conflict to black and white clashes. Protestant and Jewish clashes. And in all of this, Jen maintains a high level of downright hilarity. She's a wonderful writer, and this is one book you won't want to return to the library.