Kid Review: Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome by Kat Zhang

In this latest installment of the Amy Wu series, a new student, Lin, joins Ms. Mary’s class. Lin has just moved from China and doesn’t speak much English, and seems embarassed when the class greets him. At lunch, both Amy and Lin have dumplings, and Amy tries to engage the new boy in a conversation, mentioning that she is having a dumpling party that evening. She also tries to get him to play pirates, but he doesn’t respond. He also can’t share any words about his love of soccer during show and tell, although he clasps a soccer ball. After school, Amy sees Lin picked up by his family, and sees how glad he is to be able to speak with them. Amy convinces her mother to invite the new family to the party, gets her grandmother to help her with Chinese characters on a welcome poster, and learns to greet Lin in Chinese, even though it makes her feel red faced! Even though they don’t speak the same language, the two are able to share experiences and get along.