Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A Chinese American family pulls their car over to gather wild watercress growing by the roadside. As the family sheds their shoes and rolls up their pants to wade into the gully, the narrator of Wang’s poignant free-verse text is anything but happy. Mud squelching between toes, holding a soggy brown bag full of what looks like weeds, the preteen ducks down as a car passes lest their family is recognized. But for Mom and Dad, the moment is emotional. In one exceptional double-page spread Chin paints the faded red 1960s-era car parked on the left, with cornstalks bordering the road transforming into bamboo stalks and a soft-focus sepia-toned image of rural China on the right. “From the depths of the trunk / they unearth / a brown paper bag, / rusty scissors, // and a longing for China,” reads the text. In another, Mom and Dad praise the watercress for being both fresh and free, but to the next generation, “free is / hand-me-down clothes and / roadside trash-heap furniture and / now, / dinner from a ditch.” It isn’t until Mom finally shares the story of her family in China that her child understands the importance of this simple dish of greens, this “delicate and slightly bitter” watercress. Wang’s moving poetry paired with—and precisely laid out on—Chin’s masterfully detailed illustrations capture both an authentic Midwestern American landscape and a very Chinese American family, together infusing a single event with multiple layers laden with emotion, memory, and significance. Understated, deep, and heart-rending—bring tissues. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 5-10) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A Chinese American family pulls their car over to gather wild watercress growing by the roadside. As the family sheds their shoes and rolls up their pants to wade into the gully, the narrator of Wangs poignant free-verse text is anything but happy. Mud squelching between toes, holding a soggy brown bag full of what looks like weeds, the preteen ducks down as a car passes lest their family is recognized. But for Mom and Dad, the moment is emotional. In one exceptional double-page spread Chin paints the faded red 1960s-era car parked on the left, with cornstalks bordering the road transforming into bamboo stalks and a soft-focus sepia-toned image of rural China on the right. From the depths of the trunk / they unearth / a brown paper bag, / rusty scissors, // and a longing for China, reads the text. In another, Mom and Dad praise the watercress for being both fresh and free, but to the next generation, free is / hand-me-down clothes and / roadside trash-heap furniture and / now, / dinner from a ditch. It isnt until Mom finally shares the story of her family in China that her child understands the importance of this simple dish of greens, this delicate and slightly bitter watercress. Wangs moving poetry paired withand precisely laid out onChins masterfully detailed illustrations capture both an authentic Midwestern American landscape and a very Chinese American family, together infusing a single event with multiple layers laden with emotion, memory, and significance. Understated, deep, and heart-rendingbring tissues. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Transcending space and time, memories bring a Chinese American family together. A girl in cutoffs and a T-shirt is embarrassed when her parents stop the car to pick wild watercress growing by the side of the road; she doesn't understand why her family has to be so different from everyone else. At dinner, she refuses to even taste the watercress. But when her mother shares the story of her family's difficult past in China, the girl learns to view the food on her table with new appreciation and understanding. Together, the girl and her family make "a new memory of watercress," ending the story on an optimistic note. Chin's expressive watercolors create their own narratives to complement the different layers of Wang's story. On one double-page spread, the illustration delivers devastating information only implied by the text. Another spread visually connects the family's present and past: as readers' eyes move from left to right across the gutter, they experience two completely different spaces and times -- cornstalk morphs into bamboo, and the scene changes from Ohio to China, present to past. Chin's smooth visual transition cleverly disturbs and dissolves the barrier created by the gutter and bridges the two worlds. Inspired by Wang's own memories as the child of Chinese immigrants (as revealed in the closing author's note), this quietly affecting book encourages honesty, communication, and sharing of family history. (c) Copyright 2023. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.