Barkbelly

Eidi: The Children of Crow Cove

Summer Surprise (Adventures of Callie Ann)

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan

Kesar and the Lullaby Birds

Longhouses (American Community)

Wild Rescuers: Guardians of the Taiga

Maya's World: Mikale of Hawaii (Pictureback(R))

Part historical fiction, part magical realism, and 100 percent adventure. Thirteen-year-old Mei reimagines the myths of Paul Bunyan as starring a Chinese heroine while she works in a Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885.

Aware of the racial tumult in the years after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Mei tries to remain blissfully focused on her job, her close friendship with the camp foreman's daughter, and telling stories about Paul Bunyan--reinvented as Po Pan Yin (Auntie Po), an elderly Chinese matriarch.

Anchoring herself with stories of Auntie Po, Mei navigates the difficulty and politics of lumber camp work and her growing romantic feelings for her friend Bee. The Legend of Auntie Po is about who gets to own a myth, and about immigrant families and communities holding on to rituals and traditions while staking out their own place in America.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Barkbelly

Cat Weatherill, 2005

Eidi: The Children of Crow Cove

Bodil Bredsdorff, 1995

Summer Surprise (Adventures of Callie Ann)

Shannon Mason Leppard, 1997

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan

Ashley Bryan, 2016

Kesar and the Lullaby Birds

Debasmita Dasgupta, Aditi Oza, 2022

Longhouses (American Community)

Raymond Bial, 2004

Wild Rescuers: Guardians of the Taiga

Stacy Plays, StacyPlays, 2018

Maya's World: Mikale of Hawaii (Pictureback(R))

Lizzy Rockwell, Maya Angelou, 2004