Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong
    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong
    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong
    Ebook342 pages5 hours

    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

    By L. Tam Holland

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This “first-rate,” hysterically funny debut novel “that belongs on every multicultural reading list” (Kirkus Reviews) is one of Kirkus’s Best Books of 2013.

    When Vee Crawford-Wong’s history teacher assigns an essay on his family history, Vee knows he’s in trouble. His parents—Chinese-born dad and Texas-bred Mom—are mysteriously and stubbornly close-lipped about his heritage. So, Vee makes up an essay about the grandfather he never knew.

    The deception begins to spiral out of control when Vee and his best friend, Madison, forge a letter from his relatives in China, asking his father to bring Vee for a visit. Astonishingly, Vee’s father agrees. But halfway around the world is a long way to go to find what Vee has been searching for the whole time—who he really is.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateJul 23, 2013
    ISBN9781442412668
    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong
    Author

    L. Tam Holland

    L. Tam Holland was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and actually convinced someone once that every student there rode dolphins to school. After moving to Northern California and earning an undergraduate degree from Stanford, Holland went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from the University of San Francisco. Along with teaching high school English and creative writing, Holland coaches water polo, avoids tofu, and enjoys writing limericks. Visit her at LindsayTamHolland.com.

    Related to The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

    Related ebooks

    YA Diversity & Multicultural For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Chip Off The Old Block

      Jun 5, 2022

      A Chip Off The Old Block
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Letter to My Sons

      Sep 25, 2019

      A Letter to My Sons
      7 min read

    • Article

      Exploring The Boundaries

      Oct 2, 2018

      I have been babysitting my student’s two-year-old boy for the last three hours, while my student and his wife go out for the night. The boy is bubbly. He has the habit of bouncing on his toes when he is excited, and he is excited about everything. He

      8 min read

    • Article

      Q&A with Bonnie

      Apr 21, 2023

      ◗ Elizabeth Zott is a character we would all love to know or even become. Where did such a personality spring from? Fury! I started Lessons in Chemistry about seven years ago. I’d just come out of a meeting, irritated by some garden variety sexism, a

      6 min read

    • Article

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup

      Sep 1, 2020

      Bloodlines and Bitter Syrup
      18 min read

    • Article

      The Lucky Ones

      Feb 19, 2019

      The Lucky Ones
      12 min read

    • Article

      Dads Behaving Badly

      Jun 16, 2017

      Dads Behaving Badly
      5 min read

    • Article

      Table Talk

      Sep 1, 2023

      Table Talk
      10 min read

    • Article

      Lockdown Stories

      Nov 13, 2020

      Lockdown Stories
      6 min read

    • Article

      Vivian Pham On Reigniting Our Inner Child

      Aug 2, 2020

      IT IS A strange time to be alive, and an even stranger time to be a child. Toddlers today are only doing it for the first time and should not therefore be regarded as authorities in their field. Only handfuls of humans have managed to remain in the E

      4 min read

    • Article

      Adeel Akhtar

      Mar 25, 2024

      Adeel Akhtar
      5 min read

    • Article

      Little House

      Jun 5, 2023

      On Monday nights our mother made popcorn and served it to us in mugs with milk poured over. My younger sister and I carried our mugs into the family room and ate the popcorn with spoons, like cereal. We were five and seven. Until we were allowed to s

      21 min read

    • Article

      Louis Theroux

      Feb 21, 2022

      Louis Theroux
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Joan of Arc Puppet Show

      Jun 1, 2019

      The Joan of Arc Puppet Show
      14 min read

    • Article

      HALF & HALF

      Feb 17, 2020

      HALF & HALF
      4 min read

    • Article

      Naked Truths

      Nov 22, 2020

      Of course we had a row. You can’t, or I can’t, interview Paul Henry and not have a row. Somebody once took a picture of us glaring at each other in an Auckland bar, silently but furiously having a row, and put it on social media. It was a picture of

      8 min read

    • Article

      White Paper Family

      Aug 11, 2019

      White Paper Family
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong

    3.5/5

    2 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.Vee Crawford Wong, like many teenagers isn’t happy and doesn’t have a good conception of who he is. The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong is the story of his search for himself, his family’s past, and for a girlfriend. While I wasn’t totally captured by The Counterfeit Family Tree, I did like it and am impressed by Holland’s debut.Most impressive I think is the first person male narration. Vee definitely feels like a real and flawed teen boy, with his various fantasies and grumpiness with his situation in life. Until I sat down to start writing this review, I actually had no idea the author was a woman, since she did the first initial thing to keep the book from being marketed to girls (it’s sad that this is necessary). I’m always really impressed when authors do first person narration of the opposite gender well, so major props.Vee is half Chinese and half Texan. He feels weird-looking and like he doesn’t fit in, especially because his family unit is so separated from everything. He doesn’t know any of his grandparents or what his parents’ lives were like before they met. As he goes through the identity crisis that is being a teenager, various school assignments and his own curiosity lead him to want to know about the vast void of his family tree.The story focuses primarily on Vee’s family. His mother is sweet and his father awkward. He, like many teens, does not appreciate them. He hates them for keeping secrets and a little bit for producing him, this odd-looking mix of a person. Most parents in YA are absent, so I loved how The Counterfeit Family Tree was essentially a journey by which he comes to understand and love his parents. That’s not something you see often in YA.Running alongside that is the school and romance drama. Vee dreams of the cool girl, Adele, and of being on the basketball team. Instead, he goes to dances with his friend Madison’s super awkward friend, something neither of them is thrilled about and doesn’t make the team. As a sort of consolation prize, he’s made manager of the girls’ basketball team. He learns a lot about what it is he truly wants during the year, by making friends and paying attention to people aside from himself. One of my favorite things was actually the way he and a bully came to a sort of grudging respect for one another.One thing did irk me about this book, however. Vee made some rather disgusting comments about the basketball team girls before he really knew them:The girls who played basketball fell into two distinct categories: princess and lesbos. The princesses were thin and smooth and gorgeous, and also bitchy. They were the ones who distracted us. The lesbos made me cower; they had wide shoulders, square jaws, solid thighs, and either flat chests or huge breasts. They didn’t cut one off to shoot arrows, like the real warriors of Lesbos, but they did mush them into tight sports bras and wide-shouldered tank tops and clothes that didn’t fit quite right. They were loud and rude, more like boys, and they squatted on the bleachers and gave one another shoulder rubs before practice.Of course, I expected that, during his work as the manager, he would come to really respect the girls on the team and see past the narrow-minded stereotypes of this scene. That didn’t really happen though. I thought it was going to with Steffie, but that turned out to be a big fat no. I am not okay with anything in that above paragraph at all. All lesbians are not the same. Holy shit.Except for that one really frustrating thing, The Counterfeit Family Tree is a good debut novel, one that is a must read for readers looking for YA set in different cultural backgrounds. I would certainly try another book by Holland.
    • 4/5
      What started out as a rather mundane novel that I had a hard time getting into, turned into something completely different. I'm not entirely sure when that transition happened, it was after Vee wrote up his fake family history, but before the fake letter was even conceived of. There are a few moments of awkwardness that were almost too much for me (so much second hand embarrassment), but ultimately they were completely worth suffering through because the final few chapters are completely moving and absolutely lovely. Vee's story is not just about growing up in a world of stereotypes, it's about growing up as a person and finding himself (as well as finding out about the world around him). Throughout everything, even when he's lying, Vee is a sympathetic and relatable character.

    Book preview

    The Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong - L. Tam Holland

    ..abook_preview_excerpt.html}˒ƕ寀Z"S=.XƧ*%aUK#JQQ+}3bD_2{@dŘx_sϽ?1?\|?CU\Tc,>ҶE:kp}&s1rt_\)8bK/bNErlm~>۫=%w6MiC`Cn{(9K_qa]"=.yㅯ< Eϙ6OMۆ3B<6f48CT ncS]XU)/19`Jx\悟\s[Htx[7e .ޕf0c!1,뽡(sz{U.E3kכF+[G^֥v9vgKokL!*[k$} juQ70xj̾Px&cL1@IJXx_vKU]!iKa/S3TrGTs̚XA0@aƿoRz.nf9WrԆ~ҞN#,ÙbՂ "\/a7B ZDLeIL~9/#$CtׂV9O7^,q2P0VeJE0n0GXolƭgl\K}472/tB2d`L7Nz}麍pȌ06\WZ2k\*2<ǜ*NC/<)?蛧\Cؘ;1Gvn2i`uFzg;%Y4\OR(?OS}ȁ~&3AᕢBZwi~-t3F*9sr`LŤ.+\[ 91(r5GFGY8f1q#L>Vpkr$wpr&xI dA$S % W!!dDppl 0f\8e*oH-5@#l雴G~npZg 7/=J\vgM0a 1뺆W+ XtSSX-`-EنIK@|u:}K~lz=_Ȥq!aiS,R9[p c8uhaw`S`:<6yZѓ  I^N0v%D8S 36u?ǁafG7xZB3t|F\5Zqcf$GuF&̶a'+ c/;ISho[*It?&Istذj$ށyoA 5^m_cu)GE;%HwS \!x@C#ǵU" A)Ȃa7 Ơw1I=CFta%@hHVfzI|BbfTNhK|b`l&*5#$ y"İ„>|s3:,cn62kME921Wa8LBP{_ 1 Ul3cu~4o_UddH·&L$RcWRǴO$F̡_WZyfv¿d<֬ul+L,а 1&<)u Bc[* ]|oƄQd9L%䪔,RuǸĥL[0>|#*u,3V*v{iZژxt?eZ@_uPBȪ$Vi{9 .,(N 6R ۩D ׽up}lFvͭ600=Z̃k_?NçeY8u|d2G"OԗBoU2kQ_AT4]@F墕ts@_N 8LL[Qlb0rr9DNRTU=$u }0ɂuеI*.F[Y>p"%8M13$W:i+ߖ1ׅS˥']S^ A d77t\ cSYHCx/-ue<,Xe^gPf޸D@jl wEX|5 DVݽMH~rs,B*ZNBvd76kdM{E֘5*X5Fɯ$|Ĝ`V24s62Rd }IK)EeՎТiS^)^9z=!I&ȟSPh9sI .q!׃cg[iս߄|}5Kb#Z ]i6ms6 mER/׻m HK Оc\q)emڽ2ks(Ep na|[|T~'_s'䲥Bq5I$͉7f-7#炜d&"i1n`: )Q 9`Y\ᘡ51S- hMO4?>^0a5;L&=̿~B)o ޔq̀N%\nbέhuoSTĪ.23Jh0d2"h.»׳7-[ѝu\}##I׉uy5AlW~Խ(j,T+2-˳Siq݇>Dn-XH;+?X@=^u- Flxs(Fz;s6dR׬Iչ!/*oa~rL7/"B7ќJ%ikZiX`ie;xr.mX~?y'hq>0bdD060X[3S:N|JB W@.mOΙe2xQ)>ZdCz$2&06DUjlԱT6֑`47[j%ha*,$#Yؕqo̤g3F~ZZ;PeQ^S]{P3kL`.*@Z-!нGo77D>T ^5#™w>&$$0 r[dmr\қ.Q7/kSsqWMTPM ~NĶgnJtZ ԇǨ%7V!)vYǘGgXY[WՙBkX[חOuјKggƈ`Q Wy*8[Y$I(|=Wh.Ć6g+vatجe1I鹣@ ,pbiՑ :y; t !cwMfĕYXuE+}͉ 9') @M-fXM+a&T.\oL48jb9UwjQ0 VS9#ՆĦ3e*d gp\z3miizbOj#i^e7R/2D#K!L5ºT YW_ooclغ"z)H+[7꯭6 VW9EKEHWM*yOxs(796Wg_%xR^ "YL :r_ń. n>d_M5lYfF%{ g/a~͜Y MU]~Xo[D'.$ʶQNh]UG]rS+z'~/`FQE8PMFdrAŞ]P n=UEJ\8S#nZ日+ cBkK|'0Mx짢zA*O W ankGpP`nG]I, 9cLE- xov $pe&{u8Ym##}.ɵ^b2\ΆV H3f^gc-Qf{]x; ٮGaRk_&WSovRA\ߪZg@}[M<KߘMca}s>Ycvkl8oۅ.bW'XN)/nYy@dZLwjz&ĽsMgBf -Ѐ`=ROnŋG+⭢2ӽ_AeHY%*=C.d?"C~tcɡz2p`D ѭ`Mlbq[_ N^1M?mNOctT7)ܞ|{5cnNgxulls,g2m0ӅyCpwa1&`ۍۢ3H5Yҡ=oXU-7T{Zr 珃ZЭślMyP0vleR^?͠CGwԹtHbZyzVO]1hE2?Λ{W#K=W/5xo/KbKV?&6|.³L US͆XYʦQ1?/M.l[a ӣ?ś39V x'':Tej)}VV\3\.-8wN٤h)FH#7[/N RUVxjnl˚:t!. *ib&kH8z0h+CoM$Fކ9}$v_u/ZCy\4T\l$Gz" -.-#<[%ۜad%1<;ڑN06)oc{ajߴz'w&ړ gXoS<7tyݏ[se>TsekD?`~;t˴>Xƛr@S빓AErӟMc%0cl?)~jHOo?1(8aAGZ85DsoW~h*N{m|y_0'0nNʦ/UR-O}֭|Dz;cm!LK3:"ʜN1ީDAoC㮿ĆwS.? 4Ij`K`ٛF[F7 ZuW mw a.$Lc4K_Ѵ7hgR/+xP} ƏL6͋Â>bmbK߇f:Whڦh;db4DMɪy=Z-v,A"ܨ%ɚ`PFwb_oWVNֹTm 9/)ccȤFV$ !;6tXdONb L`s{y(˨NjmlA^,"ʀSiwp q{cLgta(3'י)gVDE={7`/S>W U.7Gm3t]<&:9Ues=R%0?o{FbѕO7U>U*#0ŗ2Y`p(,v/˕Tg=yHݦthD39Ve(h;g-Ll}C,V~O[bn)RIs6N؎mtpŇ92־,Fjĕ C4ysR81vLy%bd5E)7 h2Clac ܏qӜO3hm@G!ly C>q[ ~h9 vK=j|iQ٠:"9M"-OZlqEe]2g/遲2 ]{ٖ"Vr*7C{ 7U_C@1L\aޭٝYggU~/> hǬ=s/w(~{7J TWrR''mW:96ڌˢ9\Ĺ$k#DfN{ͅ¤>L,jEӻ-?dTT -Rqdu9:Jc(f$` d2yɭݡĕ|ф\MTǟೲ˵DoI<76bQ*fmuSr+]VB縌kK od}~X;< x<=Rg*}WEtT>3=j!}Ţ:KXEYV/9H8؆62i1)rLY#|!83꓎_I\Cjf,ٔ;7֬7ج5y{Z> _fDYetª-U%ؙyM;@@g Ð'-~ϥqέO`4SiQ 8v^} Y*xюR`#0m ~`k7=uoqb!M8 ^Cwp}s`f] ibbCM?_#$3ә#m~ ?h~j(r o<~K9Wl3&P'aEv` \k'V);kT1.mI;iUm] myqJ}+Q@8=;JǕLfqDPYkade*eW:t{obږF9Z-=~Lr׷;riAהX԰Ą"2E܃|O 7> r줯.O("87-y-']|4ZX~[UeV:&{a2&5[o#V-vq;1p߰Mgr1㥭R.'nvx;Џ)-0Y4['OBΚ*ϸS_;M?UV/(nX/AW۪z``up y(k  ѽ[gP:h}i'rF58XhU\>m}!\QD܊a4"ܔXY}*9![fN*&xBI@$u aˏ>v`q⚋*N#ň1b2f֤ 90=bj,0,>^_"؉u dpV|Χ! d&_2:󼶅j ֌6V֌7~ƕ*^w7i@}W/ dON{"R Cg%.3[lq{X5[Vw9ItS O~/4Y;w:F YV·믍xv=MB'&yCGFDjEOؠb]Y%pW&,sqrŜ|Eq;$D˺C%yviT39Fk5-f"ᾥ|Ge
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1