"The First Seven Years" by Bernard Malamud and "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan have many similarities yet some major differences as well. "The First Seven Years" is set in New York. The main characters are Feld and his daughter, Miriam. They have come from Poland and have a Jewish background. Feld is trying to make a better life for his daughter. He wants her to have what he never had, an opportunity to have mainly a good education, but also a spouse (preferably Max, one of his customers.) Miriam is a quiet, pretty girl who spends the majority of her time reading books lent to her by Sobel. She is not described as wanting to be in a romantic relationship.

"Two Kinds" is a story about a Chinese mother and her daughter, Jing-Mei. They live in San Francisco and there is a constant dispute over the daughter's future...