Growing Up & Facts of Life
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New from Here
From the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk comes a poignant middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience as an Asian American boy fights to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.
When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans's mom makes the last-minute decision to move him and his siblings back to California, where they think they will be safe. Suddenly, Knox has two days to prepare for an international move-and for leaving his dad, who has to stay for work.
At his new school in California, Knox struggles with being the new kid. His classmates think that because he's from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom just got fired and is panicking over the loss of health insurance, and Dad doesn't even know when he'll see them again, since the flights have been cancelled. And everyone struggles with Knox's blurting-things-out problem.
As racism skyrockets during COVID-19, Knox tries to stand up to hate, while finding his place in his new country. Can you belong if you're feared; can you protect if you're new? And how do you keep a family together when you're oceans apart? Sometimes when the world is spinning out of control, the best way to get through it is to embrace our own lovable uniqueness.
When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans's mom makes the last-minute decision to move him and his siblings back to California, where they think they will be safe. Suddenly, Knox has two days to prepare for an international move-and for leaving his dad, who has to stay for work.
At his new school in California, Knox struggles with being the new kid. His classmates think that because he's from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom just got fired and is panicking over the loss of health insurance, and Dad doesn't even know when he'll see them again, since the flights have been cancelled. And everyone struggles with Knox's blurting-things-out problem.
As racism skyrockets during COVID-19, Knox tries to stand up to hate, while finding his place in his new country. Can you belong if you're feared; can you protect if you're new? And how do you keep a family together when you're oceans apart? Sometimes when the world is spinning out of control, the best way to get through it is to embrace our own lovable uniqueness.
Editorial Reviews
"Yang deftly touches on complex issues including China–Hong Kong relations, racism, the grief of separation and dislocation, and the pandemic, all while maintaining a hopeful tone.
A timely and compelling family journey." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Narrating from Knox's approachable, first-person-present perspective, Yang adeptly maintains a sense of hope and belief in love, balancing haunting dramatic irony...with moments of levity as the family works to be reunited." -- Publishers Weekly
"Yang again demonstrates her talent for honest, age-appropriate storytelling from a child's perspective that both entertains and educates. A compelling story that conveys the importance of showing love and kindness, especially during hard times. Highly recommended for all middle-grade collections." -- Booklist, starred review
"Without beating the reader over the head the author manages to emphasize values such as family first, kindness, and courage throughout the story. The genuine nature of this pandemic tale stems from Yang's experiences with her own family. This book will keep readers turning pages, if not for its recognizable elements than for its ability to transmit the love and strength of a family under duress in an unusual time...highly recommended." -- School Library Connection
"Based on the real-life experiences of Yang and her family, the story does not soften the trauma of moving somewhere for safety, only to realize that place has its own dangers and hardships, and it also recognizes the pandemic's specific social and economic losses, as well as the emotional toll it takes on Knox and the people he cares about....plenty of adults and kids alike are exhausted by the pandemic, but this is a timely mid-grade must-have and a story that needs to be told." -- BCCB
A timely and compelling family journey." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Narrating from Knox's approachable, first-person-present perspective, Yang adeptly maintains a sense of hope and belief in love, balancing haunting dramatic irony...with moments of levity as the family works to be reunited." -- Publishers Weekly
"Yang again demonstrates her talent for honest, age-appropriate storytelling from a child's perspective that both entertains and educates. A compelling story that conveys the importance of showing love and kindness, especially during hard times. Highly recommended for all middle-grade collections." -- Booklist, starred review
"Without beating the reader over the head the author manages to emphasize values such as family first, kindness, and courage throughout the story. The genuine nature of this pandemic tale stems from Yang's experiences with her own family. This book will keep readers turning pages, if not for its recognizable elements than for its ability to transmit the love and strength of a family under duress in an unusual time...highly recommended." -- School Library Connection
"Based on the real-life experiences of Yang and her family, the story does not soften the trauma of moving somewhere for safety, only to realize that place has its own dangers and hardships, and it also recognizes the pandemic's specific social and economic losses, as well as the emotional toll it takes on Knox and the people he cares about....plenty of adults and kids alike are exhausted by the pandemic, but this is a timely mid-grade must-have and a story that needs to be told." -- BCCB
Readers Top Reviews
Jennifer
Wow! Moving a family from Hong Kong without their father to escape the Coronavirus and all the struggles that ensue as racism, no medical insurance, work issues, school issues and growing up could break a person, a family unit- BUT Knox and his siblings will do most anything to bring their family together during a confusing time! To see the results of the Coronavirus through this book made me think about how young people reading this story may empathize and connect with the children within the story and the craziness that was in 2020! Beautiful line: “(Racism) It’s like a virus. You know what the vaccine for racism is? Love’” A Must Read!!
Jothebookgirl
Reader, you may find this account a bit chilling having lived, so far, through this pandemic watching it unfold to epic proportions. When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, the Wei-Evans parents make the last-minute decision to move the family to California, where they think they will be safe from the virus. At this point there has been no cases of Covid 19 in America. The family is multiracial with an East-Asian mother and White father so the children are a mix with both features.p who experience varying degrees of racism. Ten year old Knox is now the father figure of the family because dad, who is a lawyer, feels he must stay behind with the family’s dog, to earn money to support his family. Their mother plans to find a job in America, but as the pandemic begins to spread this is a difficult task due to the economy and fear of being around the public. Life in America isn't easy. At Knox's new school, the other kids think that because he is from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom's freaking because she has no job and thus no health insurance for her and her three children. Yang deftly portrays how racism skyrocketed during COVID. Can this family stand up to hate while finding their place in his new country? Yang’s story is grounded in realistic events of the pandemic yet she has interjected much humor into this tale of a struggling family. Based on her own lived experience, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Yang spins a heart-warming tale of courage, hope and resilience in the face of unprecedented times. You get to watch retrospectively the run on grocery stores where people hoarded mounds of toilet paper until a limit was instituted, the lack of protective equipment for health care workers, skyrocketing price of hand sanitizer and the lack thereof, and the people who tried to make a buck selling essential items at exorbitant prices, Definitely a good read.
Sacha
4 stars For me, Kelly Yang is a sure bet when it comes to middle grade and YA, and this newest middle grade installment is no exception. But come to this one wanting to get a young person's view of the pandemic, not with the hope of escaping it. Yang begins with an author's note that is not to be missed. In it, there's a brief description of Yang's children and their immediate family's experience with being split across continents during a long stretch of the pandemic. I thought about this note the entire time I read, and it really adds a meaningful layer to the fictionalized account. Knox is the main character in this novel, and he is one of three siblings. At the start of the novel, the pandemic is just getting rolling, and Knox is living with his siblings, dog, mom, and dad in Hong Kong. The parents make a tough decision; dad remains in Hong Kong with the dog and mom heads to Northern California with the kids. Each character - as anticipated - has their own struggles with this arrangement, not to mention the turmoil that everyone experiences at this time. Also, the family is multiracial. Mom is East Asian, dad is white, and the kids - while all of the same parentage - experience differing degrees of racist nonsense based on their appearances. The conversation around anti-Asian racism flows through the whole novel and is portrayed in both a layered and age appropriate manner. Although there is A LOT happening in this novel - which is required since it's supposed to be realistic and we all know there are apparently no breaks to be caught during this time - what really stands out is Knox's development and the relationships within the family. There are some really great moments. As much as the family relationships are a highlight for me throughout, I did struggle quite a bit with the mom. She's portrayed as (reasonably!) challenged by sudden single parenthood of three children in another country, but WOW does she make some wild choices. The kids are young, and at least one is prone to making particularly wild decisions. Why she trusts them in some of these situations is really beyond me unless it's supposed to be for comic relief, but I just found some of these moments stressful and odd. That author's note left me wondering if there is some vicarious self-deprecating happening here, but I still didn't love some of this content. This is not just another great middle grade novel or another noteworthy work by Yang. It captures the pandemic - and this particular moment - in ways I haven't seen much yet for this audience. I'll be recommending this one to students (and all interested parties) for a long time for very specific reasons.
