30. A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
Bao and Linh are teenagers whose families have competing Vietnamese restaurants across from each other. There is a long running feud between their families and thus they have spent their lives avoiding each other. A chance encounter brings them together creating a friendship and then something more. Their relationship has the potential to bring their families together or possibly drive them further apart from their parents. While it was nice to read a book focused on kids other than white teenagers I struggled to get into this one. I just didn’t find the story that compelling. I give it a 6 out of 10.
Around the Year in 100 Books 