Julia Kuo

child who moves overseas grapples with what home is.

The young unnamed East Asian–presenting narrator explains home in basic terms: “In the mornings we leave home, and in the evenings we return.” Sometimes the family members—consisting of the little one, Mama, and Amah (Taiwanese for Grandmother)—go away for a longer time, but they always come back…until one day, they leave for good. As their plane flies across the ocean, “home becomes a wish.” They arrive in a strange new show more place with unfamiliar people and sounds. “How can this be our home?” the protagonist asks. Kuo’s spare yet graceful prose and her signature graphic-style artwork, beautifully saturated with pinks and blues, imbue this simple story with heft. One particularly moving double-page spread depicts the narrator in a canoe on a vast sea rowing away from the family’s old apartment building on one side toward their new house on the other. And then, “slowly, odd becomes ordinary, and strange becomes sweet.” The child comes to some profound realizations: “There are different homes for different times: a home from before, a home for now, even a home for later.” A close reading into the landscapes (Seattle’s Space Needle can be seen in one spread) and clues such as the use of Taiwanese show just how far this family has come.

Elegantly constructed yet warmly comforting—a soothing balm for children undergoing similar changes. (Picture book. 4-8)

-Kirkus Review show less

"How can any other place feel like home?"

A little girl and her mother and amah move from one home to another. It takes time to adjust, but eventually they adapt and settle in. That description doesn't do justice to the beauty of the language and the art, however; this is a beautiful book.

"Now I see there are different homes for different times: a home from before, a home for now, even a home for later.
Home is a wish that comes true when I can say, I'm from here now."

See also: On This show more Airplane by Lourdes Heuer; Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away by Meg Medina; I'll Go and Come Back by Rajani LaRocca show less

Following the format of The Next President, Messner traces the path of past, present, and future scientists, identifying certain common traits - they might be building stuff or taking things apart, sewing or stargazing, making art or playing sports, observing nature, or reading - and where those traits might lead (NASA, frequently).

Back matter includes additional capsule biographies of some scientists (e.g. Mario Molina, George Carruthers, Shirley Ann Jackson), further reading, selected show more sources, and even a list of some of the scientists' favorite books (Sally Ride liked the Nancy Drew series!).

Humanizing, informative, inspiring. show less

Gorgeous pen-and-ink style drawings show a mother and child enjoying grand adventures as well as quiet times together. Full of love.