The Life of a Banana is a moving and often humorous coming-of-age story centered on Xing Li, a British-born girl of Chinese descent who is struggling with her identity. She is often labeled a "banana"—yellow on the outside, white on the inside—a term for people who are ethnically Asian but culturally Westernized. Following the sudden death of her mother, 12-year-old Xing Li and her older…