Maizy Chen's Last Chance

The Phillips are excited to see Lucky again. They explain that they know Jenkins framed Lucky for the theft. The Phillips encourage Lucky to come back to work for them. Lucky smiles at the Chinese housekeeper who let him in the house. Lucky visits the Phillips Mansion every day for the next two weeks and thinks about the Phillips’s offer. However, he decides he will return to Last Chance. He marries the Chinese housekeeper, Lulu.

Maizy and Logan search for Bud. Maizy stares at the ransom note and tells Logan she wishes she could compare the townspeople’s handwriting. Logan decides to start a petition and ask for people’s signatures so he and Maizy can examine their handwriting.

Logan asks for people’s signature for a fake petition. Erik grabs the petition from Logan, but Erik’s mother tells him to give Logan the petition back. Erik and his mother sign the form, but neither of their handwriting matches the note.

As Maizy waits for bratwurst, Maizy learns that “oma” and “opa” are German words. At home, she asks Opa why they use German names. Opa explains that when a German midwife delivered Opa, she referred to Lucky and Lulu as his “opa” and “oma.” Lucky did not realize the woman was German, so he assumed that was what Americans called their grandparents, and the nicknames stuck.

When Lucky reopens the restaurant in Last Chance, everyone rushes to greet him. He introduces them to his new wife, Lulu. Lucky feels bad that he took Lulu away from the Phillips Mansion to work in a small restaurant in Minnesota. However, Lulu tells him that the restaurant is their palace, so Lucky renames the restaurant the Golden Palace.

Emmy emails Maizy to tell her she is gathering information about the paper sons and that she will send her more information soon. Later, when Maizy sees Principal Holmes, she wonders if he and her mother are in love.

While Maizy and her grandparents watch television, Maizy learns that Oma met Opa at college. Oma tells Maizy that they planned to honeymoon in Hawaii. Opa explains that they never got to Hawaii because his father died after the wedding, and they took over the Golden Palace. Opa looks sad, but Oma tells him that she does not regret it.

The next day at the Golden Palace, Maizy sees Principal Holmes holding her mother’s hand. Maizy asks Oma if she thinks Principal Holmes will ask her mother out, but Oma replies that they are only friends. Logan’s friend Finn runs in and announces that he has found Bud. Finn leads Maizy and Logan into the woods, where they discover Bud.

The next day, a group goes out to carry Bud back to his spot at the Golden Palace. Oma tells Finn that he can order anything he wants for a week as his reward for finding Bud.

While Lucky was in San Francisco, he told people in Chinatown that they would always have a place to stay if they came to Minnesota. Soon after, paper sons make their way to the Golden Palace. One night, someone sets the restaurant on fire again, and the fire brigade helps the Chens put it out. Lucky asks Lulu if she thinks they should leave, but Lulu refuses to go because she wants their child, Philip, to grow up in Last Chance.

Daisy, Charlotte, and Maizy prepare a Hawaiian-themed party for Opa and Oma’s wedding anniversary. After dinner, Oma sits in Opa’s lap as their favorite song plays.

Maizy tells Opa that according to Oma, he does not talk to Werner because Werner accused him of cheating at poker. Opa admits he cheated but says that Werner overreacted. Werner comes over and they sit in silence.

Maizy and Logan overhear Erik telling a group of teenagers to meet at the church at midnight. Maizy tells Logan they should follow Erik because she suspects that he had something to do with Bud’s disappearance. Logan does not want to sneak out, so Maizy goes alone and brings a camera with her. She hides by the church until Erik and his friends arrive. She sees them drinking whiskey and remembers that they found a whiskey bottle near Bud in the woods. Maizy hears yelling near the Golden Palace and runs home. Maizy sees a figure near Bud and takes a flash photograph.

Charlotte is standing by Bud and asks Maizy why she took a picture of her. Maizy looks up at Bud and sees the c-word slur painted across his body. Charlotte tells her that she was looking for Maizy when she saw someone painting on Bud, but they ran away before she could determine who it was. Maizy wants to find out who did it, but Charlotte says Maizy needs to explain why she snuck out in the middle of the night.

Maizy gets grounded for leaving the house at night. Principal Holmes comes over with solvent and scrubs the word from Bud’s body until it disappears.

At lunch, Maizy asks why the paper sons were all men, and Opa explains that families in China thought women should stay behind to take care of the rest of the family. However, Opa tells Maizy that she may find a paper daughter on the wall if she looks closely.

Before Opa is born, a paper son named Jian Lee comes to the Golden Palace to stay with Opa’s parents, Philip and Ana. One night, Ana goes into the Golden Palace and finds a beautiful Chinese girl trying on a dress. She introduces herself as Jian Lee, but Ana recognizes Jian is a young girl disguising herself as a boy. The girl explains that Jian Lee was her brother, who died right before his passage to America, and that she came in his place. Later that night, Ana tells Phillip, “Things aren’t always what they seem. The same goes for people” (185). Years later, Jian Lee becomes one of the first Chinese American actresses, changing her name to Jean Lee.

At the Golden Palace, Maizy examines the faces in the photographs and finds Jean Lee. Werner comes to watch Carlos! with Opa every day, even though they do not speak.

The next day, Oma stays home with Opa. When Maizy returns home, Oma tells Maizy that she always wanted to be a math teacher, but when she met Opa, she decided to move to Last Chance to keep the Golden Palace going. Maizy thinks about the women in her family who have had to give up their dreams to support the men in their lives, and she realizes that her mother chose a different path, focusing on her own dreams instead.

Lucky needs a loan to repair the Golden Palace. However, the banks will not lend to him because he is Chinese. Instead, Lucky borrows from men who threaten to hurt Lulu if Lucky does not pay them back. After months of repairs, the Golden Palace reopens.

At the restaurant, Maizy takes food to Lady Macbeth, who snaps at her for not bringing all the food at once. Maizy gives Lady Macbeth a fortune cookie about being kind.

After hours of sitting in the restaurant, Lady Macbeth leaves without her leftovers. Maizy takes them to Lady Macbeth’s house, where she finds her door open. Overcome with curiosity, Maizy wanders inside toward piano music until Lady Macbeth confronts her.

Lady Macbeth tells Maizy to speak her mind, so Maizy tells her that Lady Macbeth orders too much food and has a bad attitude. To her surprise, Lady Macbeth bursts out laughing. Lady Macbeth explains that the Golden Palace’s business is failing, so she orders a lot of food to keep the restaurant in business. Lady Macbeth says that Maizy’s grandparents like to give help rather than receive it, mentioning that this is why they hired Daisy. Maizy looks confused, so Lady Macbeth explains that Daisy did not have a job when she came to Last Chance, so Maizy’s grandparents hired her even though they could not afford it. Maizy realizes that she was wrong about Lady Macbeth and that, like Oma says, “Things aren’t always what they seem. The same goes for people” (201).

While Opa watches television, Logan drops off a copy of the newspaper with Maizy’s interview in it. Mayor Whitlock’s article describes the events of Bud’s disappearance and the graffiti found on him after his return. The article quotes Maizy’s question, “Isn’t it time we evolved past prejudice?” (204).

Maizy asks her mother why she left Last Chance. Charlotte explains that she wanted to make a name for herself outside of the Golden Palace. She tells Maizy that she does not think her parents understand that feeling. Maizy tells her about Oma giving up her dream to be a math teacher and encourages her mother to talk to Oma.