Maizy Chen's Last Chance

Maizy receives a form letter rejecting her invitation for Carlos! to come to the Golden Palace. However, Carlos! includes a personal note wishing Opa a fast recovery. Opa looks so happy over the note that Maizy starts to cry. Opa tells Maizy that she can cry when he dies, and Maizy asks him why he always jokes about dying. Opa explains that he does not like that Maizy, Oma, and Charlotte are already sad about him dying while he is still alive.

Opa tells of a huge earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906. The earthquake destroyed birth records, allowing a new wave of paper sons to enter the country. As the years go on, Lulu writes to friends in San Francisco and arranges a marriage between her son, Philip, and a woman named Ana. Before long, Philip and Ana have a son named John.

Maizy knows that John is her Opa. She is excited that the Lucky stories feel even closer to her now that Opa has entered them.

Riley tells Maizy that she overheard Erik joking about a bear in the woods. Maizy talks to Principal Holmes later and tells him that he has her permission to date her mother. Principal Holmes tells Maizy that he loves Charlotte but that he has a husband named Chris. He tells Maizy that he is trying to convince Chris to move to Last Chance with him.

Maizy tells Mayor Whitlock that she thinks Erik stole Bud and wrote the slur because she found an empty whiskey bottle near Bud in the woods. Mayor Whitlock explains that she will need more evidence to be sure Erik is the culprit, but he assures her that he will listen to anything she finds.

Philip and Ana take over the restaurant, and business goes well until late 1941, when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Anti-Asian sentiment increases over anger at the attack on US territory. Suddenly, everyone becomes suspicious of the Chens, even though they are not Japanese. Ana pins a note to Johnny’s clothes reading, “I am a Chinese American” (222). Philip enlists to fight in World War II to show his American allegiance. After the war, Lulu hits her head and Philip and Lucky rush her to the hospital. The hospital refuses them because they are Chinese, even though Philip proves he is a veteran. By the time they make it to another hospital, Lulu has died. Years later, on Lucky’s 100th birthday, the mayor of Last Chance presents Lucky with the key to the city. Lucky thanks the people of Last Chance, telling them that Minnesota has been his true home. Two days later, Lucky dies.

Opa tells Maizy that Lucky’s story is not over because he started a legacy of Chens in America that continues with Maizy. Maizy overhears Oma tell Charlotte that she never wanted Charlotte to take over the Golden Palace. Then, she tells Charlotte that she is proud of her, and Charlotte is moved to tears.

Opa’s health worsens over the next few weeks. Maizy tells him about her research on the paper sons, which makes him happy. He reminds her that she is the connection between Lucky and the paper sons, although Maizy does not understand what he means.

One day, Maizy remembers that newspaper articles for Minnesota Dontcha Know must be submitted two weeks before publication. However, Mayor Whitlock’s article described the graffiti on Bud less than two weeks after the vandalism. Maizy concludes that Mayor Whitlock must have known about the graffiti before it happened. To be sure, Maizy goes to Mayor Whitlock’s office and asks him if she can submit something for the newspaper for the next issue, but Mayor Whitlock tells her she missed the two-week deadline and that they do not make exceptions. This solidifies her theory, and Maizy knows that Mayor Whitlock either knew about the graffiti and let it happen, or painted the slur himself to add excitement to his story. When Maizy gets home, she sees an ambulance in front of their house for Opa.

Maizy sits next to Opa’s hospital bed. Maizy tells Opa that he must get better so he can tell her more stories. Before she leaves, Opa tells her, “I’m betting on you to tell our stories” (234).

Opa dies. After his death, Oma does not go to the Golden Palace, and Maizy’s mother cries every day. Maizy cannot cry and does not know why.

At Opa’s funeral, Maizy sees a group of Chinese American people that she does not know. A woman from the group introduces herself as Lynn Fong, and another woman introduces herself as Emmy. Maizy feels overjoyed that they came to the funeral, and Oma welcomes them like family. Maizy hears Mayor Whitlock ask Oma if he can say a few words at the funeral. Before Oma can respond, Maizy tells him no.

Mayor Whitlock ignores Maizy, but she repeats herself, forbidding him from speaking at Opa’s funeral and from coming to the Golden Palace. Maizy stares him down and tells him that she knows what he did. Mayor Whitlock walks away, and Maizy tells Oma that she will explain later.

After the funeral, Oma invites everyone to the Golden Palace for a celebration of life. Oma tells Werner that even though he and Opa fought, Opa always loved Werner like a brother. Maizy finds the paper sons’ descendants and takes them to the office.

Maizy shows the paper sons’ descendants their ancestors’ wall. They point out their family members, and Maizy feels like they are having a family reunion.

When Maizy returns to the dining area, she gives out fortune cookies that Opa dictated to her before he died. Maizy gives her mother a fortune cookie that tells Charlotte that Opa was proud of her. Maizy gives Werner a fortune that confesses that Opa cheated at poker. Maizy gives Oma a fortune that reads, “Aloha to the love of my life. You can cry now” (248). After Maizy passes out the fortunes, she feels sad but finds Lucky’s key to Last Chance in her pocket. She realizes Opa put it there knowing she would find it.

The next day, Oma calls Maizy and Charlotte into the restaurant office. She puts another photo on the wall and tells Maizy and Charlotte about her father, who was a paper son. Oma’s father told her that she could not tell anyone because he was afraid that the government would deport them. Oma asks Maizy to research her side of the family for the paper son project.

In the morning, Maizy says goodbye to Logan. Maizy remembers how she wished to be back home at the beginning of the summer. She realizes that Last Chance has turned into her home.

Back in Los Angeles, Maizy and Emmy create a Last Chance Paper Sons website to connect generations to their ancestry. Maizy learns from Logan that everyone in Last Chance knows that Erik took Bud and left the racist ransom note. His mother makes him apologize to Oma, who tells him that she will not press charges. Minnesota Dontcha Know receives an anonymous letter about Mayor Whitlock’s ethics and after an internal investigation, the paper fires him and he resigns from politics. Maizy and Charlotte plan to video chat with Oma later. Maizy thinks about Opa and his stories every day. On the phone, Logan asks Maizy to teach him poker when she visits during spring break, and she agrees.

Oma sends Maizy a postcard from Hawaii. She writes that she believes Opa is with her in spirit. She feels glad that Daisy is running the Golden Palace, and she tells Maizy and Charlotte that she wants to move in with them soon.