In the late 1980s on the Jersey shore, Jane Wong watches her mother shake ants from an MSG bin behind the family’s Chinese restaurant. She is a hungry daughter frying crab rangoon for lunch, a child sneaking naps on bags of rice, a playful sister scheming to trap her brother in the freezer before he traps her first. She is part of a family staking their claim to the American dream, even as this dream crumbles. Beneath Atlantic City’s promise lies her father’s gambling addiction, which causes him to disappear for days and leads to the loss of the restaurant. In her debut memoir, Wong tells a new story about Atlantic City, about making do with what you have --- and what you don’t. What does it mean to be both tender and angry? What is strength without vulnerability --- and humor?