Skip to main content

Review: Uprooted

Image
By
Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back
By Ruth Chan
New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2024. Comics. 285 pages.

In 1993, Ruth's parents tell her that her dad has found a new job, and so they will be moving from their home in Toronto, Canada back to Hong Kong. Ruth is apprehensive about the move. She loves her friends and life in Toronto, she isn't confident speaking in Cantonese, and her older brother is staying in Canada -- at a boarding school, so he can finish his senior year. Adjusting to life in Hong Kong is predictably difficult for Ruth. School is harder, the city is bigger, and she struggles to make friends. Meanwhile, her father is busy traveling throughout China for his new job, leaving Ruth without their nightly chats, and her mother is busy with her social life, now that she's back in her home country. How much can one 13-year-old be expected to endure?

Graphic novel memoirs have become a mainstay of the children's comics section, and this one will be especially popular. Ruth's story of migration is highlighted by memories from her parents of their own immigration from Hong Kong, and the family story of leaving China during the Sino-Japanese War. Filled with emotional depth and stories of perseverance, this story could easily feel really heavy. But Ruth Chan, who is well-known for her humorous picture books, adds a sense of laugh-out-loud humor that makes for a really complete feeling memoir. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dog Man Read Alikes

By
Dog Man  is a popular graphic novel for middle graders all about the adventures of a half-man, half-dog police officer. With 14 books in the series, many readers can't get enough of these hilarious stories! If your child is looking for more books like Dog Man, here are some great options to try out.  Dex Dingo: World's Best Greatest Ever... Inventor By Greg Foley Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2024. Comic. 157 pages.  Dex Dingo doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up. His classmates all seem to know, but he just doesn't feel like he is the BEST at anything. When a class assignment challenges him to figure out what he wants to be, he decides he wants to become the world's best ever inventor! Filled with beautifully drawn spreads and kid-approved humor, this book is sure to please any Dog Man fan.  Troubling Tonsils Written by Aaron Reynolds Illustrated by Peter Brown  New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2025. Fiction. 71 pages.  ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more