"And really, I did understand finally. Not what she had just said. But what had been true all along. I saw what I had been fighting for: it was for me, a scared child who had run away a long time ago to what I had imagined was a safer place. And hiding in this place behind my invisible barriers, I knew what lay on the other side: her side attacks. Her secret weapons. Her uncanny ability to find my weakest spots. But in the brief instant that I peered over the barriers I could finally see what was really there: an old woman, a wok for her armor, a knitting needle for her sword, getting a little crabby as she waited paitently for her daughter to invite her in" (p.203-204). In this quote, Waverly is realizing that her mother was not pushing her away, she ran away. And that her mother's little comments or criticisms were ways to get back in her daughter's life, not to show hate for her daughter's choices. The mothers' culture and way of thinking is so very different from their daughters' and that is what makes the book so special. In the beginning it seems that there is a great distance between the mothers and daughters and all because of lack of communication. Waverly thought her mother hated Rich, her new fiancé, since he was American. She began to think that even the smallest comment from her mother about Rich had a much deeper meaning. These thoughts about her mother got bottled up inside her and eventually came out in a big explosion one day. But in the end her mother explained everything. And she told her daughter that some of her feelings came from her Chinese background. This book does an excellent job of tying cultural issues with mother-daughter issues. It also does a good job of making each character unique and not just another Chinese stereotype.

This book is very well written and the characters are nicely developed. Each person has her own two stories to tell, one of when she was a child and one of when she is an adult. These stories help you get to know the characters personally but they are arranged in such a way that the reader can easily be confused. It is easy to forget which mother met the " Moon Lady " and which married an American or which daughter had which mother. Sometimes the book forgets to explain things or leaves out details on each character. But all together, the book gives a pleasing impression on mother-daughter relationships and the difference between the Chinese culture and the American culture.