About the Book:

"You are my messenger. Look everything. Remember." Grandma Nai Nai tells eleven-year-old Xiao Mei as the girl heads off to Shanghai, China, to visit their extended family. Xiao Mei is both excited and apprehensive. She will meet many new relatives, but will they accept her, a girl from America who is only half Chinese?

Xiao Mei is eagerly embraced by her aunties, uncles and cousins and quickly immersed in the sights, smells and hubbub of daily living in Shanghai. At first battling homesickness, Xiao Mei soon ventures on her own, discovering the excitement of a different way of life and a new appreciation of her Chinese heritage. When it is finally time to leave, Xiao Mei must gather up her memories and bring "a little bit of China" back home.

Ed Young's exquisite drawings touchingly highlight Andrea Cheng's lyrical story of adventure, self-discovery, and the strong bonds that tie families together.

To Order: http://www.leeandlow.com/books/107/hc/shanghai_messenger

Author Perspective:

Shanghai Messenger combines two experiences. In 1968, when I was eleven years old, I traveled from Ohio to Hungary by myself to visit my relatives. I had never met my cousins, aunts or uncles before. Xiao Mei's feelings, in Shanghai Messenger, are similar to the way I remember feeling excited, scared, and curious. In 1997, I traveled to Shanghai, China, with my husband and our three children to meet my husband's extended family. Most of the scenes in Shanghai Messenger come from our stay there with my husband's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Xiao Mei is modeled on Jane, my older daughter, who was eleven at the time of our trip. Like most of my books, Shanghai Messenger draws heavily on both my experience and that of my children.

Awards:

2005 Starred Review
--Kirkus Review, 2005

2005 Starred Review
--Publisher's Weekly, 2005

2005 Original Art Show
--Society of Illustrators, 2005

2005 Junior Library Guild Selection
--Junior Library Guild, 2005

100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
--New York Public Library, 2005

Parent's Choice Recommended Award Winner
--Parent's Choice Award Selection Committee, 2005

Lasting Connections Title 2006
--Book Links, 2006

Reviews:

"Half-Chinese Xiao Mei (May in English) is eleven, going alone from Ohio to visit her extended family in Shanghai. In vivid poems, almost iridescent in their clarity of feeling, May wonders if people in China will stare at her green-flecked eyes; sees what her great-grandfather carved in stone in Suzhou Gardens; buys a live duck for lunch in the marketplace. The fear of being so far from the familiar and the ache of a loving but very different set of relatives are exquisitely delineated no more so than in Young's beautiful illustrations. Each page is laid out with borders and centerpieces with a red Chinese grillwork pattern in perfect geometry; while soft-edged brillantly colored vignettes of May learning t'ai chi, riding on a moped to take laundry to dry, playing catch with a child and a red ball, illuminate every page. Some images catch at the heart-Auntie unwrapping a wonton to tuck the last speck of pork in before cooking, or May back in Ohio missing the shouting farmers outside her window in Shanghai. Wonderfully evocative." - "starred review"
--Kirkus Reviews, 2005

"Eleven-year-old Xiao Mei is on her way to China to meet her extended family. She was initially reluctant to make the trip, wondering if she would be accepted because she is only half Chinese, but her grandmother, Nai Nai, tells stories of family members that pique her curiosity. Xiao Mei agrees to be Nai Nai's messenger, and to "Look everything. Remember." Once in Shanghai, the girl is warmly welcomed, and begins to learn about and appreciate her heritage. She makes wontons with Auntie, visits gardens where her great-grandfather's words are carved in the archways, and participates in morning Tai Chi exercises. When Xiao Mei returns home to Ohio after a week, she takes gifts, including a fan painted by an uncle that brings "a little bit of China" to America. Cheng does an admirable job of capturing this experience from the perspective of a child, and each free-verse chapter is brief but satisfying. With the exception of one spread illustrating the Tai Chi exercises, Young's illustrations delicately intertwine with the text, gently supporting each vignette. This is a superb book, capturing both the excitement and adventure of Xiao Mei's trip, as well as her realization that family ties can bridge great distances.
--School Library Journal, 2005

"In many of today's immigration stories, the break with the Old Country is not as final as it used to be, and young people travel back and forth across borders and generations to visit extended family and explore their roots. In this picture book for older children, 11-year-old Xiao Mei, the child of an American father and a Chinese mother, is persuaded by Grandma Nai Nai in America to take up the invitation from Uncle Hai Tao to spend the summer in Shanghai. Cheng's free-verse story, illustrated with Young's small, expressive line-and-watercolor pictures, shows the child's initial doubts, the plane journey and the arrival, and the welcoming young cousins and adults. Whether she is making wontons, doing tai chi in the park, helping her cousin buy a computer, or singing the songs from The Lion King in English and Chinese, she discovers her connections with a rich, exciting world. A glossary and a pronunciation guide will help readers pronounce the Mandarin names and words.
--Booklist, 2005