BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lo, Malinda. 2021. LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB. New York. Penguin Random House. ISBN: 9780525555254.
PLOT SUMMARY
Lily Hu, a high school student, lives in San Francisco Chinatown. She is studious and talks about her plans for her future, but her year ends up being more than just worrying about academics. She makes a friend, Kathleen, who joins her at The Telegraph Bar, a lesbian bar. Her family is already under watch by the FBI as her father’s immigration papers have been confiscated and she is forced to make a very tough decision as an incident at the Telegraph Bar will expose her secret whereabouts and her identity as a lesbian.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Lily’s school year begins as normal, but slowly sees changes in her thoughts and interests, as young adults experience during this time in their lives. Her life as a good Chinese American daughter is one of obedience until she realizes she is interested in women and makes a connection with her first white friend Kathleen. Through their interest in an ad for Tommy, a male impersonator, at the Telegraph club they both discover feelings for one another and a connection of love. From that point on she is constantly exploring her feelings and interests. She manages to sneak out of her house to attend the Telegraph club late at night without anyone suspecting she is not home. Throughout the historical realistic fiction read, there are timelines with dates of Chinese American history to give context to the time period as well as Chinese foods that are enjoyed by the Chinese culture. The language includes some Chinese symbols and meanings for words at the bottom of the pages. There is historical fiction throughout as Lily’s father is threatened with deportation through McCarthyism. The reading is carefully crafted to gradually develop with a strong ending. Lily makes the big decision to express her true self to her family, knowing that in that time it could cost her the relationship with her family and even her father’s immigration status. Her transformation and acceptance for her true self is a slow one. This is a queer-love story filled with transformation, change, love and courage. The author’s note contains inspiration for the story, language used at the time, Chinese American history of the 1950’s, and information on lesbians, gender and community.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Award, 2002
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books starred, 12/01/20
Horn Book Magazine starred, 03/01/21
Kirkus Reviews starred, 12/01/20
Michael L. Printz Honor, 2022
School Library Journal starred, 02/01/22
Stonewall Book Award, 2022
Horn Book Magazine (March/April, 2021): “interspersed flashbacks that detail the personal histories of Lily’s parents and Aunt Judy and timelines of world events further put the 1950s Chinese American experience into context for readers.”
Kirkus Reviews starred (December 1, 2020): “...Lo skillfully layers rich details, such as how Lily has to deal with microaggressions from gay and straight women alike and how all of Chinatown has to be careful of the insidious threat of McCarthyism.”
School Library Journal (January 1, 2021): “ Lo’s prose comes alive when describing Lily’s blossoming awareness of desire; readers will be enthralled with her breathless, confusing experience of seeing the long-awaited Tomy Andrews and finally expressing her feelings for Kath.”
CONNECTIONS
This read is a good read for the young adult audience for ages 14 and up as it may be too overwhelming for a younger teen.
The read is a slow one, but has a very strong ending. There is a lot of history throughout the story, which gives for a more courageous ending as the topic of homosexuality, lesbian, gay was not culturally accepted and there were many efforts to suppress this lifestyle during this period in history.
This read leads to a good conversation for internal struggle, LGBTQIA+ and Asian American themes.
Other Books on LGBTQIA+ and Chinese American Fiction:
Talley, Robin. PULP. ISBN: 978-1-33501-290-6
Lee, Stacey. OUTRUN THE MOON. ISBN: 978-0-14-751691-6
Lo, Malinda. A SCATTER OF LIGHT. ISBN: 978-0-525-55530-8
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