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Book Review

Publisher's Note:

A story about the power of sharing memories—including the painful ones—and the way our heritage stays with and shapes us, even when we don’t see it. New England Book Award Winner A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can. At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family just get food from the grocery store, like everyone else? But when her mother shares a bittersweet story of her family history in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged—and the memories left behind in pursuit of a new life. Together, they make a new memory of watercress. Author Andrea Wang calls this moving, autobiographical story “both an apology and a love letter to my parents.” It’s a bittersweet, delicate look at how sharing the difficult parts of our histories can create powerful new moments of family history, and help connect us to our roots. Jason Chin’s illustrations move between China and the American Midwest and were created with a mixture of traditional Chinese brushes and western media. The dreamy, nostalgic color palette brings this beautiful story to life. An endnote from the author describes her personal connection to the story, and an illustrat…

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Watercress

by Andrea Wang

Overall Book Review:

Humbling. Poignant. These are words that comes to mind for Watercress, a picture book that has received accolades. This autobiographical book with its soft colors and gentle illustrations of common things and a relatable story seems at first understated. However, as each page is turned, the emotional impact heightens to a humbling conclusion. Although this is a story about a girl in a family that has immigrated to America, the various feelings the girl has about her family are something that many, if not all, children have probably felt at one time or another.

This award-winning book does not have a lot of flash that will propel it into the hands of young readers so it will probably have to be guided there by an adult, which is terrific because it may be the perfect beginning to a further discussion about heritage and sacrifice.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: Report of death of a family member in the past.

Sex/Nudity: None

Mature Subject Matter:

Famine, death of a family member, immigration.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

None

Overall Book Rating
Profanity/Language
Rating:
0
10
Violence/Gore
Rating:
1
10
Sex/Nudity
Rating:
0
10

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About the Reviewer

An accountant and CPA by profession, I found myself a book reviewer for Squeaky Clean Reads by happenstance. When the opportunity came to transform that website into Compass Book Ratings, I was excited to seize it and meld my business background with my love of books. As the mother of three teenage sons, I have read a large number of children and young adult books and I believe that there is great value in a content review service. As much as we would love to read everything our children read, there just isn’t enough time. I also appreciate being able to select books for myself that are really worth my precious and limited reading time. I believe there is a book out there for everyone–they just have to find it!