The Face in My Mirror

by Maureen Crane Wartski

As an infant, Mai was adoped straight off a boat from Hong Kong by Leo and Vivian Houston in Serena, Iowa. Now, at fifteen, a painful racial incident spurs her to find out more about her Vietnamese roots. The search takes her to Boston, where Mai's biological aunt, Lien Van Tranh, owns a restaurant. But her aunt proves to be less than cordial. Now Mai is more confused than ever, and the worst is yet to come . . .

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 31, 1994

About the author

Maureen Crane Wartski (Maureen Ann Crane) was born on January 25, 1940 in Ashiya, Japan. She earned her B.A. degree from Sophia University in 1962. As a children's and young adult author, she won the Annual Book Award of the Child Study Committee at Bank Street College of Education for A Boat to Nowhere. In addition to writing children's books, she published romance novels under various pseudonyms, including Francine Shore, Evelyn Shannon, Cynthia Leigh, Laura Jorda, Cynthia Sinclair, and Rebecca Ward. She also wrote for magazines, such as Boy's Life. As well as writing, Wartski taught at Sharon High School in Sharon, Massachusetts, and pursued various creative arts, such as painting and quilt making. She was married to Maximillian Wartski, and travelled with him for his career in the military. Her two sons, Albert and Mark, were born in Thailand, before they moved to the United States in the 1960s. Wartski died on January 14, 2014 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Jessica EVHS Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book follows a teenage girl who was adopted by an American family. Her birth parents were boat people who immigrated here from Vietnam. She travels to the east coast to learn more about her roots and relatives. This was a good book to read for enjoyment, though it did not relate to boat people as much as I would like it to. It focused more on the main character's trip, rather than what she discovered.

[Aric EVHS Lai · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Face In My Mirror" by Maureen Crane Wartski followed the life of Mai Houstan an Asian American adopted by a full American family, when she gets bullied she decides to go to boston to figure out who her mother was. This book gave plenty of information about hardships Asians have faced in America, but I wish it would give specific details about the boat ride to America.