New from Here - Hardcover

Yang, Kelly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1534488308 ISBN 13: 9781534488304

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022

Synopsis

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

This “timely and compelling” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience follows an Asian American boy fighting to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans’s mom makes the last-minute decision to move him and his siblings back to California, where they think they will be safe. Suddenly, Knox has two days to prepare for an international move—and for leaving his dad, who has to stay for work.

At his new school in California, Knox struggles with being the new kid. His classmates think that because he’s from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom just got fired and is panicking over the loss of health insurance, and Dad doesn’t even know when he’ll see them again, since the flights have been cancelled. And everyone struggles with Knox’s blurting-things-out problem.

As racism skyrockets during COVID-19, Knox tries to stand up to hate, while finding his place in his new country. Can you belong if you’re feared; can you protect if you’re new? And how do you keep a family together when you’re oceans apart? Sometimes when the world is spinning out of control, the best way to get through it is to embrace our own lovable uniqueness.

About this title

About the Author

Kelly Yang is the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk (winner of the 2019 Asian Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature), Three Keys, Room to Dream, Key Player, Top Story, Parachutes, Private Label, Yes We Will, New from Here, Finally Seen, and Finally Heard. Front Desk also won the Parents’ Choice Gold Medal, was the 2019 Global Read Aloud, and has earned numerous other honors including being named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and NPR. Learn more at KellyYang.com. 

Reviews

Gr 4–7—Chinese American fifth grader Knox Wei-Evans's world is turned upside down when his parents decide that Mom will take Knox, older brother Bowen, and younger sister Lea from their home in Hong Kong to the United States to get away from the novel coronavirus that just shut down the city of Wuhan. The kids have to pack quickly and leave their dog and their dad—Knox's best friend—behind. In Northern California, they quarantine for 14 days and attempt online school before starting public school, where, for the first time ever, Knox has a teacher who understands and encourages him, and he has a friend. Christopher is also Asian American and has ADHD. But the virus "knows no borders" and soon arrives in the States, triggering a wave of fear and anti-Asian racism. Knox's mom says that love is the only vaccine for hate, and Knox stands up to racist classmates—his own and Bowen's. As California enters a state of emergency, Knox, Bowen, and Lea bond in a creative desperate effort to raise money to bring their dad to join them. The Wei-Evans family faces the pandemic, racism, and worries about jobs, income, and healthcare with "consistent courage," and finds that being more open and honest with each other helps. Knox's struggles will resonate with all children who lived through the scary and uncertain first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. VERDICT A pandemic book that is also a story of the importance of family, friendship, and standing up for what is right; another knockout from Yang, highly recommended for all collections.—Jenny Arch

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1534488308
• ISBN 13: 9781534488304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368