While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house-and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw-Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and-most serious-civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves-during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes.

Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement. It is so very rare and refreshing to see diversity within the Asian American community authentically portrayed Wang allows each character complete ownership of their identity, freeing their truths and, in the process, allowing readers to do the same. Wang is a master storyteller, knowing when to quietly place panels between each moment to sharpen the emotional impact or to fill it with life. Trouble soon follows, with struggles with jealousy, social expectations, and devastating medical news for Moon. Moon later shares a deep secret with Christine: She receives visions from celestial beings that tell her she belongs with them. Despite all that, the two become fast friends, stretching each other’s interests with K-pop, art, and the like. Moon is vegetarian, rumored not afraid to use her fists, does not attend Chinese class, and certainly is “not Asian” according to Christine’s standards.

The only thing is, they are complete opposites. Change comes when her parents offer the in-law apartment her grandpa used to live in to a struggling Chinese American mother and child from church, encouraging Christine to befriend Moon, the daughter. Christine is a Chinese American girl living in an Asian suburb who’s focused on her music and grade school work. Friendships can be complicated-sometimes in the best way possible.įollowing The Prince and the Dressmaker (2018), Wang takes bits of inspiration from her own life in her new graphic novel.

Jen wang the prince and the dressmaker