The Way Home Looks Now by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Sensitive social issues such as sexism and micro-aggressions are also embedded in the storyline, as are cultural connections with Peter’s Taiwanese heritage. The Way Home Looks Now portrays Peter’s childhood through baseball games, schooling, sports, friendship and death. Eventually they learn to accept each other despite the significant dilemmas around gender and an initial resistance to making an exception for their team. Their efforts to keep the team together help Peter and Ba become more open with each other as well as with the other teammates. After Ba becomes the coach, the Little League team goes through good days and hard situations. Peter also experiences and learns about the unknown sides of Ba. The strict and seemingly rigid Ba transforms as he serves as a coach for the team. He is inflexible but rule-oriented until he becomes involved with the Little League team. Peter’s father is a Taiwanese-born man and his portrayal is similar to typical representations of Asian fathers in the children’s books about Asian-Americans/immigrants. Ba’s response may be understood through a cultural lens, as he is an Asian man who grew up under Confucianism’s influence. Ba, Peter’s father, doesn’t show his feelings and acts as if nothing has happened. After Nelson’s sudden death, however, Peter’s mom sinks into heavy depression and her busy kitchen nearly stops. When Nelson is a part of Peter’s life, everything is normal in the household. The author focuses on the drastic changes in home atmosphere after Nelson’s death.

Then, Nelson is killed in a car accident. (He even completes most of his school projects on baseball topics.) His older brother Nelson is also a great batter and mentor for Peter. The protagonist, Peter Lee, is the family’s second child and is passionate about baseball.

The book is about a Taiwanese-American family’s growth and resilience after a family loss, all within complex layers of relationship issues in the family and community. Set in 1970’s Pittsburgh, the story feels like contemporary fiction rather than historical fiction because of the universal childhood themes around baseball. With a book cover showing a boy with a baseball cap facing a house, many readers might think The Way Home Looks Now would be a piece of contemporary realistic fiction.

The Way Home Looks Now by Wendy Wan-Long Shang