Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World

by Deb Brammer

When Amy's family moves to Taiwan to begin missionary work, she is determined to be a good missionary. But the neighborhood girls laugh at her, and Sunday services at the Chinese church become an ordeal. It seems that the only place she feels comfortable is at the English-speaking school with her peanut butter friends.

Genres: Fiction, Christian, Childrens, Contemporary, Juvenile, Christian Fiction

180 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Deb Brammer is the author of ten fiction books, one memoir and a Bible study book, as well as a variety of ministry resources. The New Beginnings series features her three most recent novels. She and her husband have served as church planting missionaries since 1978. They served 16 years in Taiwan and have served since 1998 in Invercargill, New Zealand.
Deb Brammer used the pen name Dillon Forbes as she authored the book Careful Enough?
Deb offers many free ministry resources on her website. This includes ESL Bible studies, church programs, and puppet scripts, which have been tested in her ministries.

Reviews

[Lindsey (Books for Christian Girls) · Rating 3 out of 5]

About this book:

“When Amy's family moves to Taiwan to begin missionary work, she is determined to be a good missionary. But the neighborhood girls laugh at her, and Sunday services at the Chinese church become an ordeal. It seems that the only place she feels comfortable is at the English-speaking school with her peanut butter friends.”


Series: As of now, no.


Spiritual Content- All about being missionaries & the mission field; Prayers, blessings over food & thanking God; Scriptures are read, mentioned & thought over; Church going & singing; Trying to witness & explain about Heaven and Jesus; Talks about God, Jesus, Heaven, Christians, witnessing & mission work; ‘H’s are capital when referring to God; Amy & her family are new missionaries; Amy’s middle name is Carmichael, her brothers are named after Hudson Taylor & Adoniram Judson; Many mentions of missionaries, famous missionaries, the mission field, a mission board, mission work & witnessing; Many mentions of churches, Sunday Schools, lessons/services, songs & starting a church; Mentions of God & His plans; Mentions of prayers & thanking God; Mentions of winning souls for Jesus & being begged to tell the gospel; Mentions of the Bible, what it says & Scriptures; Mentions of events & those in the Bible; Mentions of Bibles & reading; Mentions of Heaven; Mentions of tracts & handing them out; Mentions of Christians; A few mentions of Christian holidays & the roots of them; A couple mentions of God’s creatures; A couple mentions of devotionals;
*Note: Talks about & Many mentions of Buddhists, how they worship, ghosts/spirits, idols, gods, superstitions, & other religions; A few mentions of temples.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: three ‘dumb’s and six ‘stupid’s; Friendship troubles & many mentions of gossip, a bossy girl, snubbing another, & being rude, mean and teasing; Mentions of foul smells; Mentions of meats & animal organs (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of dissecting worms & eating them; Mentions of soymilk looking like brain juice; A few mentions of pig blood’s soup; A few mentions of a fruit that looks like an eyeball; A few mentions of butchering chickens (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of people butchering & eating dogs (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of frog guts; A couple mentions of divorce & parents fighting; A mention of tobacco; A mention of wine;
*Note: A mention of a 6th grade girl wearing make-up.


Sexual Content- A couple mentions of Amy Carmichael risking her life to rescue little girls sold as slaves to temples; A mention of a mom saying to her son that he may want girls to be his friends someday (he’s not so sure about that);
*Note: A mention of someone butting in to a conversation.

-Amy Kramer, age 12
1st person P.O.V. of Amy
179 pages

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens- Three Stars
New Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
Early High School Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
Older High School Teens- Three Stars (and a half)
My personal Rating- Three Stars (and a half)
{Add up to Two Stars for missionary kids or girls interested in the mission field.}
This was really cute…though, I might be a bit biased. Y’all know I love China. ;) This book, while set in Taiwan, an island off of mainland China, reminded me many times of my trip to China earlier this year. There were great lessons & quite a bit of Spiritual Content which was a good thing for a missionary family book. A neat surprise while reading where the handful of illustrations within this book and then the games & craft at the very end was a neat bonus as well. I also love that Amy and her brothers were named after famous missionaries!


Link to review:
https://booksforchristiangirls.blogsp...


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
*I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooo I accidentally stumbled upon this book. The only thing I remember about this is that it was like my favorite book in fifth grade lol.

[Alexandra Elend Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick, fun, and emotional little journey that shone all the brighter for its simplicity.

Amy's experience balancing a new school, new friends, and a completely new country while not being something that everyone has experienced is, at the same time, timeless and something that everyone has felt at one point or another, if in different scales. It brought me right back to my middle school days, with all its insecurities and anxieties and small victories.

In the end, it was quite the enjoyable read as an adult, one that still leaves an impactful and meaningful message without caring for age boundaries.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot of great insight, both about life on the mission field and about plain, ordinary friendship. I liked the fact that Amy's transformation didn't happen all at once; she learned her lesson in bits and pieces, getting some things right even as she was still struggling with others. It felt very true-to-life.

Even though so much of the book (and Amy's perspective) centers around her new life as a missionary kid, her struggle at school with Mickey and Jessica could be set just about anywhere and makes the story very relatable to a much wider audience. Many of the lessons are applicable in ordinary (non-missionary) life as well; as Amy discovers, the most important piece in being a good missionary is being a good Christian. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this for preteen or even advanced younger readers looking for a good story with a solid Christian message.

Content--some mentions of Chinese religious practices and superstitions; one less-than-appropriate joke from a young boy

[Deb Brammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has had 7 printings and has been used by various mission agencies to prepare MK's for the mission field.

[Logan Licata · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It’s about a girl whose family moves to Taiwan to become missionary’s but what she didn’t know is what’s it gonna be like. She struggles with something. If you want to find out then read the book! So funny!!

[Megan Blanchet]

this is one of my favorite books. i have read this book like 5 times already.

[Wilani Wahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendous YA book. This is a great book to help children and young people to know what it is like for Missionary Kids to adjust to the changes and culture as they move to the mission field for the first time. It is also helpful for Adults to read as well.

[Jenny Hartfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated how this book worked through some of the emotions and struggles and misunderstandings and cultural adjustments of a missionary kid moving to a new country. Things are rarely as we expect them to be ... But how will you respond? The perspective offered by this book can be helpful both to those moving and to those encouraging the ones who have moved.

In addition, the book works through the dynamics of tween friendships and cliques. Again, thinking through these topics can help us respond with greater kindness and compassion.

Some aspects of the story felt a bit dated, but overall, it was a good read for late-elementary/middle-school.

[Heidi Morrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a YA level Christian fiction chapter book, this was very interesting. Recommended by my daughter after she read it as an assignment, I loved sitting down with her this afternoon and sharing our thoughts about the characters , etc. This was significant because this is my only child of 4 who is not an avid reader...yet! ;) Recommended former readers in a 5th-6th grade level. Read aloud levels may be younger.

[Angel Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!

I read it with my family. We found the characters living in cross-cultural situations relatable. There were many funny situations and we enjoyed learning some Chinese along the way! I recommend this book to all children and even adults living abroad and dealing with transitions.

[Tara DuBose-Schmitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the author was a missionary in Taiwan, I assumed this was a memoir. It’s actually fiction aimed at young readers. Think middle school girl drama and culture clashes. Hokey but I’m not the intended audience.

[Challice · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites as a kid. I thought for sure that as an adult I would see more flaws,but quite the opposite, I'm seeing how gem packed this book is. Love it!

[Girlan da Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, I used to read it with missionary kids before they go abroad.

[Baby Kae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to read this book

[Lena Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways, I understand how Amy felt. I once moved to a new country, but I at least spoke the language and had some family there. I had to deal with making new friends, and with feeling very left out.

I liked looking at things from Amy's point of view. The transition between two countries is very difficult, but I thought Deb Beamer handled it well. The story was pretty good, but the writing was just okay. Amy was very mature, and very independent. I'm not sure I liked that. I like it when kids aren't trying to grow up too fast.

As I read this book, I thought about the fact that it's basically pointless for missionaries to go overseas if they don't learn the language. I know people go with good intentions, but I think it would be so much better if they went being fluent in the language of their country.

Anyways, this book is great for any kid that's moving overseas. I know it would've helped me.

[Salsabrarian]

Amy Kramer's family moves to Taiwan where her parents plan to work as missionaries. Amy and her brother attend the international school where Amy meets her "peanut butter friends," people she can understand and relate to. But she would also like to make "chop suey friends" with the Chinese girls in her neighborhood and perhaps bring them over to the church. This proves difficult since Amy only knows a handful of words in Chinese and the only seem to want to call her names like "a-tok-a" or "big-nose." She finds herself relying more on her peanut butter friends, especially Jessica, a popular but bossy girl who convinces the girls to avoid Mickey, a Chinese student at the school. Amy learns she's been afraid of everything different in Taiwan that she hasn't given herself the chance to enjoy it, and that perhaps being a good missionary isn't so much the goal as being a good Christian.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite novels in elementary school. Simple, but still allowed me feel like I was grappling with real problems and think about those things.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. The only disadvantage is that, being a 5th grader, it was kinda "little-kiddy". Of course I'm not being picky about the books that I read, I enjoy all books. I rate this book A+.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good.

[Katelyn Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! This was my favorite book when I was a kid!

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to discuss cross-cultural living with TCKs.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story told from a missionary kid perspective.