Those three stars go to the first half of the book. I loved the color, Ayuyang's experiences growing up as a Filipina in Pittsburgh, and how music informed it. But the second half? It was like an entirely different book. I am maybe not the audience to care about an obsession with Dancing with the Stars or motherhood, but I would have felt a little less prompted to skim if there was any real connection to the first half of the book. ( )

Cute story but there is too much jammed into the story (as in terms of the narrator's life), and I think her connection to musicals is superficial. They are barely mentioned; half the time she is talking about "Dancing with the Stars". I'm disappointed. ( )

Rina Ayuyang tells stories from her life in a bright, energetic style. The first half of the book is the strongest portion, a traditional memoir, telling how she and her siblings, the children of Filipino immigrants, assimilated into a Pittsburgh suburb through a love of pop culture. There is not a lot of drama as Ayuyang delivers a light and breezy portrait of life in the '70s and '80s.

The second half of the book has shorter selections about motherhood and the author's obsession with "Dancing with the Stars." The DWTS material was much less interesting to me, as I've never watched the show, and in these sections the artwork sometimes crossed the line from kinetic to frenetic. ( )