MG Book Review: Dumpling Days by Grace Lin

Dumpling Days by Grace Lin

What a great book! The story is about a young Taiwanese-American girl named Pacy who visits Taiwan with her family.  Newbery Honor-winning author Grace Lin draws on her own family trips to perfectly capture what it feels like to be caught between worlds as a child, the fears, the joys, the laughter. It reminded me so much of visiting India as a kid, meeting relatives I saw only rarely and feeling self-conscious and inadequate due my inability to speak my mother-tongue. Grace Lin’s writing and illustrations are childlike, yet elegant in their simplicity. I couldn’t stop smiling as I read this book and even laughed out loud in parts (the garbage truck scene is hysterical). Fair warning though if you love dumplings as much as I do, you will wish this book came with a list of suggested restaurants. I really really need to try soup dumplings! (Cue stomach grumbles)

#Taiwan #gracelin #India #multiculturalbooks #MG #PacyLin #DumplingDays

Random Library Find: Poof! by John O’Brien

Poof! by John O’Brien

Sometimes when I’m at the library picking up one of my ILL requests, I stop by the kid’s section to look at picture books. During this particular visit, I’d picked up some Caldecott Honors and some other new picture books, but out of my 5 picks, this one was the one that really stood out to my 4 y.o..

I had them all out on her bed as a “surprise” for when she got home from school, and after rummaging through them in her room by herself, she came out and announced, “Poof! is the one I like!” (Proud Mommy moment since I hadn’t read any of the titles to her.)

The story is simple and fun, basically about two wizard parents who argue about whose turn it is to “change” the baby. Silliness ensues as they change the baby into various creatures and end up as a family of wizard ducks. Ha!

#bookreview #picturebook #poof #libraryfind #johnobrien #librarytrip

YA Book Recommendation: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cyborg Cinderella. What’s not to love? It takes two of my favorite genres, fairy tale retellings and sci fi, and mashes them together. Wish I hadn’t taken so long to get around to reading it!

I loved the world building (just enough detail, but not too much), loved her multicultural(?) characters (particularly the robot friend!), loved how she incorporated the cinderella story. I am in awe of how much she accomplished in only 87,000 words (according to AR Book finder).

There was one niggling plot issue I had trouble believing, but I know why she did it and wouldn’t really know how to fix it. Didn’t detract from the book though.

Requesting the sequel now from the library!

#bookreview #Cinder #multicultural #SciFi #YA #MarissaMeyer