(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sarah McMenemy. After his beekeeper aunt tells Lionel that some bees died over the winter, he gets the idea to relocate the rest to his Paris apartment building's rooftop gardens. Lionel's narration is mainly expository, but readers will cheer as he convinces his neighbors--an effort that McMenemy cleverly shows in a cross-section watercolor painting of the six-story building. Includes a note on urban beekeeping.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Patrice Barton. Chinese American Anna Wang, eight, has just moved to a new house; over (part of) a year, she begins an up-and-down friendship with neighbor Laura, rescues a baby bunny, starts a garden, and celebrates a birthday. Although fans may be happy for more of Anna's story, this brief prequel mostly revisits themes of The Year of the Book, albeit less memorably and cohesively.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Patrice Barton. In this fourth book, Anna is both excited and apprehensive when her waitress friend from China, Fan (introduced in The Year of the Fortune Cookie), comes to Cincinnati as an exchange student. Anna must both adjust to seventh grade (without Laura and Camille) and help Fan learn a new language and customs. Another sensitive and thoughtful entry in the Anna Wang series.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Patrice Barton. In her third chapter book, Anna Wang (The Year of the Book; The Year of the Baby), now eleven, begins to question her identity as an Asian American; a trip to China to help friends adopt a baby helps her sort out her feelings. As always, Cheng keeps the focus tightly on highly sympathetic Anna as she observes and processes her world.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) 4-6 Historical record leaves much unknown about this real person, a slave living in South Carolina who became a fine potter. In her interpretation of his life, through alternating perspectives and in spare free verse, Cheng sets the stage for Dave's personal stand against injustice, portraying one man's capacity to live a creative life within the confines of slavery. Silhouette-like woodcuts enhance the presentation. Bib.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2013

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Patrice Barton. In this sequel to The Year of the Book, sensitive fifth grader Anna Wang is worried about her new adopted-from-China baby sister, Kaylee, who isn't eating enough. Anna and her two best friends, Laura and Camille, decide to build their science project around helping Kaylee. Frequent homey spot illustrations enhance this warm family and friendship story.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Abigail Halpin. Nine-year-old Anna, who always has her head stuck in a book, sometimes uses reading as a shield against social exclusion (of the specialized fourth-grade-girl kind) and her own lack of confidence. Cheng's telling is as straightforward yet sympathetic as her self-contained main character; Halpin's often lighthearted pencil-and-wash sketches both decorate and enrich this perceptive novel.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) 4-6 After his mother's death, Jerome goes to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. Jerome befriends Mr. Willie, who lives in an abandoned carriage house and who everyone thinks is crazy. Cheng wisely lets readers find commonalities between the characters without hitting her audience over the head with Jerome's emotions.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Nicole Wong. In this tender story, nine-year-old Sharon's toddler brother goes to live for a year in China with their grandmother. "For a babysitter, Di Di is a job. But for Nai Nai, he is a grandson." This loving family misses Di Di, but the adjustment isn't easy when he returns. Homey black-and-white illustrations, a pronunciation guide, and author's note enhance appreciation of the story. Glos.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2010

(3) YA Illustrated by Nicole Wong. This poignant verse novel is narrated by almost-fifteen-year-old Ann whose mother is diagnosed with breast cancer. The text chronicles the disease's progression as well as its effect on Ann's own life. Feeling worried and lonely, she uses ballet and pottery-making to help her cope. Wong's small-scale black-and-white spot illustrations bring the reality of the family's situation to life without overwhelming the poems.

Reviewer: Aishah Abdul-Musawwir

(2) 1-3 Cheng's novel in poems reveals the special relationships that grow over the course of a year at an inner-city elementary school slated to be torn down. Each free-verse poem gently reveals the personalities, connections, and insecurities of the students and their teacher, Miss D. Cheng's remarkably emotional accompanying woodcuts, coupled with white space, give readers ample time to slow down and think.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) 4-6 In post–WWII Budapest, a young Jewish girl struggles to understand the violence and dreadful changes happening in her country. Helping her mother sew black-market stuffed bears, she eventually accepts her beloved brother's decision to defect to the West. Cheng has created a well-crafted narrative and an appealing main character in a setting with which many readers may not be familiar.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ken Condon. Aaron's mother wants to move to the country, away from the mountain of tires outside their apartment and shop. Aaron doesn't want to leave but eventually figures out how to bring a bit of home with him. The telling is choppy, but this view of city life is unique. Soft realistic drawings highlight the mountain's transformation from trash to treasure.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(3) 4-6 When Hungarian relatives join Peti's family in their small apartment in America, Peti's parents are overwhelmed with worry for those still behind the Iron Curtain and do not notice that Peti's cousin is bullying him. This is an emotional story about a quiet boy who, with the help of his local librarian, learns to stand up for himself.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) 4-6 Juli's mother commissions a lavish lace tablecloth for Juli's dowry. Even in 1933 Budapest, twelve-year-old bookish Juli, who narrates her own tale, sees options for herself that don't include marriage. With effective subtlety, Cheng chronicles the escalating tension between headstrong mother and daughter and gives this tale, unusual in time and setting, poignant relevance and credibility.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2005

(2) 4-6 When Chinese-American Sarah's fourth-grade teacher assigns her to befriend Tina, newly arrived from China, Sarah resents the assumption that a similar heritage will make them friends. Indeed, the girls' alternating narratives dramatize how different their concerns are. Equally strong as a story of friendship, of three contrasting families, and of the immigrant experience.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2004

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Yangsook Choi. Chinese-born Ni Ni is Jimmy's next-door grandmother and best friend. Her jar of keys, literally keys to her past and present, are just one of the many links between them. When it's decided that the frail Ni Ni must move across country to live with her daughter, the boy is devastated. It's predictable that the change benefits both, but there's unusual warmth and depth in the story. Realistic drawings enhance the open, inviting format.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Ted Rand. Anna spends all her free time in her father's bookbinding workshop. When her father is upstairs in their apartment, awaiting the birth of his new son, Anna completes the work on his latest commission and is rewarded with her parents' love and respect. The warm, old-fashioned story is complemented by realistic watercolors ably depicting the turn-of-the-century setting.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Michelle Chang. After Nancy's grandmother Ni Ni gets a letter from China saying that her family home has been torn down, Nancy decides to make a goldfish pond in their backyard to remind Ni Ni of the pond she had as a child. The characters in the olive and gold illustrations are occasionally stiff, although the story of a child's concern for her grandmother is touching.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Joline McFadden. A boy who is too frail to assist his father with beekeeping tasks uses his artistic talents to help his economically strapped family. Honeybee facts are scattered throughout the book, trailing in graceful arcs behind flitting honeybees--an attractive design touch that unfortunately is difficult to read. McFadden's watercolors capture natural elements more successfully than they do human characteristics.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin