A Glasshouse of Stars

April 15, 2021
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Meixing and her parents have just arrived in the New Land, lured by the educational opportunities and the house recently left to them by a deceased relative. The New House is utterly unlike the small apartment on their previous island home, impossibly magical, seeming to grow bigger and smaller according to their needs, revealing different rooms and hidden doors depending on its mood. Everything beyond their physical home is disorienting, as well, and Meixing must learn how to navigate an unfamiliar world while barely comprehending the language and shouldering her parents' enormous expectations. When tragedy strikes at the most inopportune moment, grief compounds the strangeness, but Meixing finds something truly extraordinary in the rundown greenhouse in her overgrown backyard, overseen by an unusual feline caretaker. It's a dreamy, disconcerting story, beautifully told in second person, present tense, giving the proceedings an intense urgency and intimacy. The style works to give readers a taste of Meixing's bewilderment or joy, her intense sorrow or budding hopefulness. Familiar familial bonds and unexpected allies buoy Meixing through it all, and there's a misty, magical quality that lends a fantastical lightness to even the darkest moments. A gorgeous meditation on the immigrant experience, the nebulous idea of home, and the beauty and sorrow found in every life and person.

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