  | Take a breath Olive Tran (Olive Tran Series) Author: Truong, Phuong | |
| Price: $17.66 | ||
Summary:
The school talent show is coming up, and Olive Tran is desperate to enter. The best act wins a party for their entire class, and Olive is determined to be the hero who brings home the pizza! But Olive has one big problem: What exactly is her talent? The more she struggles to find it, the more anxious she becomes. How can she win the talent show with no talent? It doesn't help that her brother Ben is a piano prodigy. If only good intentions and a sassy attitude were enough!
Reviews:
School Library Journal (08/29/25)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 08/29/2025 Gr 2–5—In this second installment of Truong's "Olive Tran" chapter book series, the consistent themes of cultural awareness and kindness are secondary to a that of teamwork. It's almost time for Maple Avenue Elementary School's mid-year talent show and fourth-grader Olive Tran is determined to win the pizza party prize for her class. She knows she has talents, but by being so busy thinking about which one to choose, she accidentally misses the entry deadline. Now what? Are her friends talented? Can they work together to win? Suddenly, Olive has new things to think about. Throughout the story, Vietnamese words are used. Early readers can discern vocabulary meanings by carefully reading the text. This is consistent with the author's previous work, although the intended audience of early readers might find the overall sentence structure and vocabulary a bit advanced. Conversations about youngsters' own talents can be used to generate lively discussions in classrooms. Most of the chapters are illustrated with Wei's colorful full-page drawings that move the story along. VERDICT This story will likely circulate well in schools and libraries whose readers appreciate cultural awareness paired with universal themes of teamwork and kindness.—Cheryl Blevens - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
