Yang the Second
and Her Secret Admirers
Yang the Second and Her Secret Admirers is about the Yang family’s oldest daughter, Yinglan, and a trick
that her younger brother and sister play on her.
Ever since she and her family moved to the United
Statses from China,
Yinglan has shown no interest in making American friends. Her younger brother
and sister, Yingtao and Yingmei (Mary), decide to make new friends for her. With
the help of their friend, Kim, they set out to make her think that her classmate, Paul Eng, has a crush on her.
First, while washing dishes after dinner, her
brother and sister wait until they are sure that Yinglan is nearby. Then, in
a loud whisper, they talk about how Paul really likes Yinglan and wants to know if she goes on dates with boys. Yinglan stops by the stairs to listen. None of what they are saying is true, but from the slow way she
goes upstairs, they can tell that she is thinking about what they said.
Next, they need to get Paul Eng to think that
Yinglan likes him. Their big chance comes when they are at a science museum with
Kim. They see Paul. Quickly moving
behind a dinosaur display where he can overhear them, they talk about how much Yinglan likes Paul.
When they see another girl with Paul, the three
worry that he has a girlfriend. But Paul comes over to them and introduces the
girl as his sister, Melanie. Better yet, Paul nervously asks them if Yinglan
ever goes out with boys.
Their plan has worked!
Vocabulary
- demonstration
- heritage
- opera
- tradition
- gristle
- solemnly
- scheme
- lame
- rhythmic
- noble
- unison
- genius
- accompaniment
- impressed
