海角大神

To paraphrase future poet laureate Taylor Swift, I knew The Epic Crush of Genie Lo was trouble when it came in.

The front cover copy (鈥滱 demon invasion is no excuse for bad grades鈥�) and back cover blurb (鈥淪he excels at standardized tests and annihilating the bad guys鈥�) had me laughing aloud before reading a single word of F. C. Yee鈥檚 brilliant, hilarious young adult novel.

There aren鈥檛 enough 鈥渓ove it鈥� gifs in the world to properly express my enthusiasm. I don鈥檛 remember the last book that had me giggling, chuckling, cackling, and literally LOLing this hard.

Sixteen-year-old Eugenia 鈥淕enie鈥� Lo can be triangulated with the following factors: 1) a dysfunctional home life, 2) a laserlike focus on getting into the Ivy League, 3) an unnatural height, and 4) a bit of a rage problem 鈥� which does help her volleyball spike.

Genie is the most disciplined student you鈥檒l ever meet. She鈥檚 put all her stock in the immortal words of both Britney Spears and RuPaul: 鈥淵ou better work.鈥� Everything orbits around her central desire of getting into Harvard (or Yale, she鈥檚 not too picky) and leaving the San Francisco Bay Area forever. College applications are upon her, and the 鈥渨ho are you really?鈥� essay questions are the bane of her existence.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Genie does not have the bandwidth for her school鈥檚 strangely persistent new student, Quentin Sun, nor for the malarkey that he鈥檚 spitting about them both being Chinese deities.

To Genie鈥檚 great frustration, that malarkey turns out to be true.

She鈥檚 apparently the reincarnation of a celestial spirit (I won鈥檛 tell you which). Quentin is the legendary Sun Wukong, or Handsome Monkey King, and he needs her help.

鈥淗andsome鈥� is right, by the way. When he first walks into Genie鈥檚 homeroom, she grouses, 鈥淣othing good could come of our new classmate being that handsome. It was destructive. Twisted. Weaponized.鈥�

But I digress. Quentin is here on a mission.

For the first time in centuries, yaoguai (demons from Chinese folklore) have gotten loose from their immortal prison. They鈥檙e showing up in Genie鈥檚 SF suburb and threatening to unleash mayhem and murder throughout the entire Bay Area 鈥� nay, the world.

Quentin has come to reawaken Genie鈥檚 true self, train up her mythological skills, and tag-team to kick yaoguai booty back behind bars.

All the academic performance in the world won鈥檛 help Genie in this battle. The good news, however, is that putting in the reps will. And, for another first, her hothead temper and short fuse actually come in handy in dispatching yaoguai.

F. C. Yee is a marvel. His protagonist is sarcastic and tough, wickedly funny and vulnerable, dedicated and foul-mouthed. Genie鈥檚 back-and-forths with Quentin are the best teen dialogue I鈥檝e read in years.

Yee drops zinger after zinger (鈥淵ou鈥檙e late to the scene. But somehow early in judgment.鈥�) while exploring the rough reality of a single-parent household in non-glitzy California.

Quentin鈥檚 acclimation to the 21st century is hysterical and charming. At one point, he describes high school shenanigans as 鈥渂anditry.鈥� Genie鈥檚 best friend stifles a snicker, and Genie thinks, 鈥淐alling our school douchebags a pack of bandits seemed like an upgrade they didn鈥檛 deserve.鈥�

And when asked to introduce himself to a new class, Quentin announces proudly, 鈥淚 am the greatest of my kind. In this world I have no equal. I am known to thousands in faraway lands, and everyone I meet can鈥檛 help but declare me king!鈥�

The baffled teacher stutters, 鈥淲ell... um... we are all high achievers at SF Prep. I鈥檓 sure you鈥檒l fit right in?鈥�

Dead.

Meanwhile, back at home base, Genie鈥檚 chronicle of her mother鈥檚 M.O. is nothing short of 16-year-old verbal acid.

鈥淥ne of the reasons I didn鈥檛 have friends over for meals very often was because of how seriously my mother took the occasions,鈥� she observes. 鈥淓ating at our table was like some kind of blood pact for her. If the get-together went well, you were in. For life. You could sleep in our cupboard if you wanted to and she wouldn鈥檛 bat an eye.

鈥淚f you did not hold up your end of the bargain in terms of being good company, or if, god forbid, you flaked, then you were cast into the lake of fire for eternity.鈥�

Almost buried beneath the avalanche of awesome that is 鈥淭he Epic Crush of Genie Lo,鈥� however, is the importance of its demography.

Our heroes are Asian, but they鈥檙e not relegated to the role of sidekick or guru. Our female lead is hard-working and intelligent, and her character arc is all about ferocious self-improvement 鈥� Genie knows what she wants and she鈥檒l work, work, work to get it. There鈥檚 romance involved (鈥渃rush鈥� has two meanings), but it isn鈥檛 the be-all and end-all of her story.

Seeing strength and agency from a non-white, female lead, whose cover depiction is a powerful, non-sexy pose? That鈥檚 the kind of book we deserve in 2017.

F. C. Yee, you crushed it.