THE YEAR OF THE BOOK by Andrea Cheng
READING TIME: 100 minutes
WORDS: 20,719 PUBLISHED: 2012 READING LEVEL: 3.6
BOOK JACKET DESCRIPTION: In Chinese, peng you means friend. But in any language, all Anna knows for certain is
that friendship is complicated. When Anna needs company, she turns to her books. Whether traveling through A Wrinkle in Time, or peering over My Side of the Mountain, books provide what real life cannot—constant companionship and insight into her changing world. Books, however, can’t tell Anna how to find a true friend. She’ll have to discover that on her own. In the tradition of classics like Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books and Eleanor Estes’ One Hundred Dresses, this novel subtly explores what it takes to make friends and what it means to be one.
FAVORITE LINE OF DIVERSITY PAYBACK: Once a boy in my school called me a Chinese flat face and I called him a big-nosed moose.
MY THOUGHTS: This is the first in a series of books about Anna, a Chinese American. I enjoyed the plot with Anna at odds with the Chinese part of her ancestry. Great starter book for a new MG reader – girls more than boys though. Learning a few words in the Chinese language was also a plus.
NEXT UP: CROW by Barbara Wright
MY MOTIVATION LEVEL: My right eye seems to be fluttering. Don’t know why. Couldn’t be that I’m approaching 20 hours of reading, I’ve got two more books left, but they are 300+ pages each. The weather is perfect and the football campers are enjoying another day of hard work. They are excited to have some NFL players coaching them today. I’m excited to be starting Book #8. Here’s the view from my reading spot…
Always in the Middle... 
Hang in there, Greg. I’ll bet you can do it. I’m hoping my grandson has a baseball camp this summer. Maybe I can get some real reading in!
You’re probably a little sun fried and distracted. Good job on fighting the good fight. I loved The Hundred Dresses, and you’re right about the feel of the Cheng.
Oooo, this sounds awfully good! I’ll have to read a few of them. Always looking for mid-elementary series.
Hope that fluttering right eye is a little less fluttery. Way to take on the 48HBC!!