Review for "Waylaid" by Ed Lin (2002) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Ok ya’ll…it’s the last entry of my ‘older’ book reviews for a while…
“Waylaid” is the story of an unnamed 12-year-old Chinese American boy who works in his family’s sleazy, pay-by-the-hour Jersey shore motel. The narrator’s obsession with sex and his fantasies with the porno mags and other sexual artifacts that he finds in his hotel rooms make up a large part of the book. The johns who routinely come by his hotel do nothing to quell his burning desire to find a girl he can sleep with. In addition to school and long nights and weekends spent working at the hotel, the narrator has very little freedom to be a kid. This gives him a wealth of knowledge beyond a typical preteen, which is played out throughout this book. Although he considers himself American, he continually faces racist comments by the guests, which he is forced to accept with a smile.
The only reason I gave this book 3 stars is because I didn’t care for the ending, which seemed kinda rushed to me. This story is definitely entertaining and funny, it’s worth checking out.
29chapters.com 
I’m interested in reading this book, but I have the feeling it will make me uncomfortable reading about a 12-year-old who’s portrayed as that sexual. To me twelve-year-olds are still little kids!
That said, this novel does sound interesting and your positive review has definitely bolstered my interest in reading it.
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It IS uncomfortable reading, which is why I wanted to make it known that about 75% of it is about the main character either thinking about, trying to get access to, or engaging in some kind of sexual activity. And yes, at the beginning of the story he’s 12. Other than that, it is a interesting book, not a typical immigrant narrative.
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