The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang

When her family moves to Seattle, Wash., from a village in southern China, 12-year-old Jinna must overcome her extreme shyness and learn to speak English. She wants desperately to prove she's as smart as everyone else is, but finds herself unable to will the words out of her mouth. Focusing almost entirely on Jinna's struggles in school, Yang's first novel conveys some of the unique challenges of the immigrant experience. The author offers phonetic pronunciations of what Jinna hears when people talk to her (e.g., ""I am Ms. Linden"" becomes ""Ai-em-iz-lin-dun,"" which Jinna takes to mean ""chest"" since that is where Ms. Linden is pointing) and integrates some colorful analogies (when Jinna can't speak, she compares herself to the cormorants in China that wear metal bands around their necks to prevent them from swallowing the fish they catch). However, the author sheds little light on her family's adjustment outside of Jinna's school troubles; in her parents' eagerness for Jinna to fit in, they come off as unsympathetic to her difficulties. When her father finally explains that he understands Jinna more than he let on, it seems like too little, too late. Still, the novel's charms outweigh its flaws; Jinna is a clever and brave heroine who will leave readers cheering. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)