49 pages • 1 hour read
Gloria ChaoAmerican Panda
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 24-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 24 Summary: “Affair”
Later, Mama Lu asks to meet with Mei in secret; Mei resents having to hide their meeting from her father. Mama Lu tells Mei that she must submit to her parents’ wishes to be accepted again. She compares Mei to Ying-Na, and Mei makes a mental note to research what happened to the real Ying-Na, who over time transformed into a mythical failure used as a warning amongst their community. When Mei confronts her mother about her subservience to her husband, Mama Lu claims that it’s her place to obey him. She tries to order a salad for Mei, but Mei orders pizza. Mei asks her mother to consider what she (Mama Lu) wants. Mama Lu believes that Mei will eventually change her mind and accept their demands. Mei is adamant that her father doesn’t know what’s best for her.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Future Mei 2.0”
Mei has discovered that Ying-Na is a comedian at a local comedy club who now goes by the name Christine. Mei notes that Ying-Na seems happy and confident on stage. She jokes about strict Chinese cultural traditions and her shameful reputation amongst the community. Mei feels a deeper connection with Christine, who acknowledges Mei’s laughter in the audience and calls Mei her “Asian sister.” After her performance, Christine invites Mei backstage, and Mei is surprised that Christine still recognizes her. Christine has heard of Mei being disowned and offers her sympathy. She reveals that comedy has empowered her, even though she admits that cultural humor is challenging. When Mei tells Christine about her dance teaching job, Christine offers to join her new class. Mei leaves feeling proud to have found an older sister in Christine.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Affair 2.0”
Mei and Mama Lu meet in secret again. This time, Mama Lu reveals that when Mr. Lu discovered their meeting, she stood up for herself and for Mei, which leaves Mei shocked but happy. Mama Lu shares that she thought raising Mei how she herself was raised was correct. When Mei confides that she’s always felt unwanted, Mama Lu admits that Mei was unplanned. She reveals that she married Mei’s father without being in love and felt pressured to give him a son. Mama Lu felt resentful about Mei’s birth and her marital situation, and she regrets taking this out on Mei. She apologizes for reinforcing the unfair gender roles she was taught, claiming that she just wants Mei to be happy and trusts her to make her own path. Before they part, Mama Lu gives Mei money and finally accepts a hug from Mei.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Hacking”
Mei and Nicolette sneak onto the domed building’s roof where Mei and Darren kissed before. They set up cardboard pieces to surprise Darren, but Mei slips and cuts her leg. They call campus emergency services, and the student EMT who loads Mei into the ambulance is, embarrassingly, the same boy who caught Mei naked when she was inspecting her rash. At the medical center, Dr. Chang stitches up Mei’s leg. The next morning, Mei waits to surprise Darren outside the domed building. He stares at the roof where Mei and Nicolette have posted a giant cardboard cup of hot chocolate that reads “thinking of you.” Mei asks Darren to be her boyfriend, and they kiss; she feels at peace with herself. Later, Darren watches in wonder as Mei dances in the Porter Room and pulls him into a dance silently.
Chapter 28 Summary: “May”
Six months later, Mei and Nicolette play charades with others from their dorm, including Valerie, whom they still don’t get along with. Afterward, Mei visits Xing and Esther, who have just had their baby, Jonathan. Esther’s mother, Mrs. Wong, is also there; she has persuaded Esther to observe the Chinese “sitting month” tradition where the new mother is bedridden and isolated for a month to restore her balance. However, Esther decides to compromise and make new traditions. Mei tells Xing that she has officially declared her major as business to help her open her future dance studio.
Later, Mei is nervous about having dinner with Darren and Mama Lu. Mama Lu has been resistant and prejudiced about Darren but has asked to meet him. Darren reassures Mei, and they confess their love for each other.
At dinner, Darren impresses Mama Lu with his open-mindedness, acceptance of Mei, and goal of being a professor. Mama Lu shares that her husband has not changed his mind about shunning Mei, although he now at least accepts Mei and Mama Lu’s relationship. Mei has hope that he will change. Mama Lu tells Mei that she is proud of her smart daughter, and she approves of Darren. Mei is overcome with happiness. Later, Mei teaches a dance class whose participants include Christine and Dr. Chang. She notes that Dr. Chang—whom Mei now calls Tina—seems more confident as she dances. Afterward, Mei feels proud and content with her own life.
Chapters 24-28 Analysis
The chapter titles continue to be significant to the novel’s messages. Chapter 6, in which Mei meets Dr. Chang, is titled “Future Mei,” which implies that becoming Dr. Chang is Mei’s future. The Dr. Chang that Mei initially meets is aloof and awkward, and she copes with her fear of germs for a career that she only tolerates. Mei shadows her because she initially believes that this is her destiny and that she must learn to endure it. However, Chapter 25, in which Mei meets Christine/Ying-Na, is titled “Future Mei 2.0,” which implies that becoming more like Christine is Mei’s revised goal. Christine is not only confident and funny, but she also embraces the behavior that has made her a traitor to her community: “She had turned their punishment into her success, the ultimate revenge” (262). Instead of burying her issues like Mei’s family has taught her, Christine openly addresses them on stage in a humorous way, illustrating the power of Coping With Guilt and Anxiety Through Self-Acceptance. Mei is familiar with using humor as a coping mechanism, so it’s clear why she immediately connects with Christine. Meeting her brings the myth of Ying-Na full circle for Mei and the audience and removes the power of the myth. She is no longer a “warning” for Mei but a source of inspiration: “[E]ven though I barely knew her, I felt proud of Ying- Na. She wasn’t the cautionary tale; she was the hero. The dreamer. The fighter” (263-64). The real Ying-Na gives Mei hope for her future and settles her anxiety about cultural betrayal.
The end of the novel also sees Mama Lu come full circle. She has evolved from a subservient, traditional, and strict mother to a more open-minded one. Her apology to Mei alone is a significant step for someone who has only recently discovered her own autonomy: “I’m sorry it took me so long to see, especially when I suffered in similar ways. I do want you to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. But now I see—your idea of happiness doesn’t match mine” (273-74). In a way, the novel is also about Mama Lu’s coming of age as she overcomes her past of following tradition without question and opens her heart to new ways of parenting. She represents the ability to let go of traditions that no longer fit, which makes her a source of both support and inspiration, like Ying-Na. Although Mei’s disobedience catalyzes the change, Mama Lu’s development is what ultimately reflects Balancing Happiness With Family Dynamics and Parental Expectations.
In the end, all the important women in Mei’s life are part of her new family, along with Xing and Darren. The switch from “Dr. Chang” to “Tina” mimics Christine’s name change, while the final chapter of the novel provides a “change” to Mei’s name as well. Her name means “beautiful” in Mandarin, but the chapter title uses the homophonous name for the month of May. By evoking both a springtime month associated with renewal and the version of “may” that indicates permission, this play on words signals Mei’s evolution over time and highlights the refocusing of Mei’s value from her beauty and appearance—initially upheld by Mama Lu—to her courage and independence. She finally embraces her flaws and continues dancing as “[a]lways [herself]—noodle slurper, face toucher, and all” (304).
