In March, I read the book Finally Heard by Kelly Yang. Finally, Heard is a realistic fiction book about a 10-year-old girl named Lina Gao and how her family struggles financially. To earn some extra income, they own an online Bath bomb business that is sadly not turning out how they expected. Everyone in her family tries to collect as much money as possible to keep a roof over their heads. This changes when they discover they can use social media for marketing their business. None of them knew how to use it, so they doubted if they could ever become famous. One day, when Lina was at school, her Mom decided to make a YouTube video. When Lina discovered her mom’s video she was shocked by her mom’s ability to do this. Before they knew it, this video went viral and greatly impacted their business. Even though social media has helped them so much in many ways, some horrible factors has crushed Lina’s family’s confidence. 

I recommend this book because all the characters Lina encountered had many interesting and realistic emotions that made me want to know what was next. Also, I enjoyed this book because many plot twists made the book entertaining and engaging. In addition, the author, Kelly Yang, did a phenomenal job of explaining the settings in this book so well that I can keep a good image in my head. In conclusion, if you love drama, I highly recommend reading this book.

My favorite character is Lina. Lina is my favorite character because she is a determined, and she is a kind-hearted person who is willing to sacrifice anything for happiness for herself and everyone around her. . Also, Lina has grown as a character in many ways. She started as being very doubtful about becoming a full-time young influencer. Lina’s neighbor Rosa was also having difficulty paying her bills, so Lina decided to help her out and make a YouTube video about Rosa’s Tacos. A quote that describes her being both kind hearted and determined is, “Action, today we’re at Rosa’s Tacos. Rosa has been making tacos and proudly serving the community for the past 15 years. Her tocos are to die for, so come now!” Pg 123. This quote perfectly describes how she is equally kind-hearted and determined at the same time. Lina could be making videos for her business; she has great compassion for helping other people in her community who are also struggling. For these reasons, Lina is my absolute favorite character. 

My favorite quote from the book Finally Heard is when Lina finds out that there are at least 80 memes of people making fun of her on a social media platform called Discord. As she figures this out, she is supposed to be shooting a video to help out another business. Lina states, “I’m determined not to let what happened ruin my work.”Pg 206. I like this quote because it shows that even with so much mockery and bullying , Lina puts that aside and focuses on helping people and following her passion. In addition, this shows how unstoppable she can be, and nothing will tear her down.