Summary

In “The Lost Notebooks of Giselle Chin,” Giselle Chin grew up in New Jersey with her mother, Mercy, father Tony, and brother, Alexander. She and her friend Jackie Ong were “part of a network of Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Malaysian Chinese and Chinese Filipinos” in the area (3). The summer of 1983, the Chins’ neighbors hosted a Fourth of July barbecue. Giselle and Jackie sneaked away from the party to make prank calls. Ellen Ng showed up, revealing that she was a friend’s cousin and lived in New York City. She joined the girls as they circulated the party together. “This was the beginning” of their friendship (7).

Mercy was obsessed with her weight and appearance. She had secured her fate in America “on the power of her looks and taught Giselle about dieting and beauty from...