Only One Year

March 22, 2010
Cheng (who collaborated with Wong on Brushing Mom's Hair
) offers a quiet yet resonant novel that explores a practice unfamiliar to most American children. Just before Sharon's mother begins a new job, the fourth-grader's parents send her two-year-old brother, Di Di, to live in Shanghai for a year with their grandmother, Nai Nai. When Sharon questions why a babysitter can't care for him instead, Mama explains that for a sitter, “Di Di is a job. But for Nai Nai, he is a grandson.” Moving moments underscore the void his absence leaves: shopping for shoes, Sharon's younger sister, Mary, suggests they buy a pair for Di Di, and Mama replies, “We don't know his size.” Di Di's return brings different distress: he has no interest in playing with his sisters (“He doesn't like us anymore,” Sharon laments), he cries too often, and during a tantrum he tears apart the girls' homemade playhouse. Expectedly, the boy gradually bonds with his sisters, a process further humanized by Wong's delicate line art. Cheng's concluding note gives cultural context to her insightful story. Ages 7–11.

April 1, 2010
Gr 2-4-Sharon and Mary can't believe their parents' decision to send their two-year-old brother to China. He'll spend a year with their grandparents, who will care for him and teach him Chinese with the help of aunts, cousins, and neighbors. His parents reason that "it's only one year" and everyone here is busy going to work or school. Di Di leaves, and the sisters keep his memory fresh by placing photos of him in an album chronicling his time in China. As months go by, the girls spend less and less time thinking about him. They're embarrassed to tell their friends what their parents have done. When Di Di returns, he doesn't remember them or English words, and Sharon worries he doesn't like them anymore. This slim novel opens a window into a unique cultural experience while showcasing the similarities of families. A pronunciation guide and glossary assist readers with the Chinese words, and black-line illustrations complement the text. An author's note explains that this family's experience is similar to that of many Asian immigrant parents who send a young child to their home country to stay with family members while they make a new life in America and work or attend school to provide a better future for their children. This novel illuminates a family's love and sibling dynamics and will be embraced by many young readers."Helen Foster James, University of California at San Diego"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
Grades 2-4 Although she sometimes finds him troublesome, fourth-grader Sharon cant bear the idea that her two-year-old brother, Di Di, will spend a whole school year with relatives in China while she and her first-grade sister, Mary, go to school and her parents work. Time passes faster than she expects, as she and Mary forge a new relationship by building a dollhouse and playing school after homework is done. Di Di returns in the summer, and after a period of readjustment fits back into the family. Soon hes off to preschool himself. While it is not atypical for immigrant families to send children to relatives, it is an unusual subject for a chapter book. The first-person narrative opens up Sharons conflicted feelings, and it is clear that what is best for Di Di is not easy for anyone, including her parents. Realistically, the fitting-back-in period is even more difficult than the absence. Supportive black-and-white illustrations and a glossary/pronunciation guide for the occasional Chinese words and phrases complete the appealing package of this gentle family story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)