My second middle-grade novel, SUMMER AT SQUEE, publishes tomorrow, March 5th, 2024! I’ll be doing a couple of launch events next week — an in-person event on March 10th at the Golden Library in Golden, Colorado, and a virtual event on March 13th. For more info about each event and links to register, scan the QR code in the above graphic or go to https://linktr.ee/AndreaYWang. You’ll find links to order the book there as well. If you order from Second Star to the Right Books, you can have the book inscribed and signed, and I’ll also include a bookmark and sticker!
The book is about Phoenny Fang, her Squad, and the place they all love — a Chinese cultural heritage camp called the Summertime Chinese Culture, Wellness, and Enrichment Experience, otherwise known as Squee. On her journey to making this the best summer ever, Phoenny encounters challenges that ultimately transform her sense of what it means to be Chinese American and grow her understanding of community. It’s a story about assumptions, preconceptions, and expanding the boundaries of how we see ourselves and other people.
I hope you’ll join me at one of the above events to help me celebrate! There will be giveaways of books as well as Asian and western candy and snacks (because they eat *a lot* of candy and snacks at camp Squee)!
Help me celebrate the launch of my debut middle grade novel, The Many Meanings of Meilan! I can’t believe it’s only a few weeks away! Join me and my dear friend, Debbi Michiko Florence, the author of Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai and many other wonderful books, as we have a conversation about our new books, friendship, and whatever else comes to mind. Maybe favorite foods and why we both seem to write about food a lot? 🤣
HOST: Second Star to the Right Books, on Zoom and in-store. It’s a hybrid event!
Click here to get tickets and order copies of both Meilan and Jenna! If you order a copy of Meilan, there’s an option to have me personalize and sign it for you. Hope you can join us!
If you’d like more info about The Many Meanings of Meilan, click here. More info about Debbi Michiko Florence here.
2021 CNY banner with young Asian family making greeting gestures in octagonal window frame. Concept of visiting friends. Translation: Happy Chinese new year
Happy Lunar New Year! It has been a very long time since I posted — what better time to make a fresh start than Lunar New Year?
In my book The Nian Monster, it’s the aroma of Po Po’s pork and cabbage casserole that lures the terrible beast to Xingling’s apartment. Chinese dishes often have fanciful or poetic names and this one is no different. It’s called Shi Zi Tou (獅子頭), which translates literally into Lion’s Head, and is a popular dish in Shanghai. The large pork meatballs surrounded by the ruffled cabbage leaves are said to resemble the head and mane of a lion. I think someone had a little too much mijiu (rice wine) when they came up with that name, but the dish itself is warm and savory and perfect for cold nights and, of course, Lunar New Year.
Here’s the recipe I use, from Huang Su-Huei’s wonderful cookbook, Chinese Cuisine.* My mother-in-law gave the cookbook to my husband when he left Jakarta to attend college half a world away (and several decades ago). We just found a used copy online and gave it to our college-aged son, keeping up the tradition.
Lion’s Head Casserole
3.3 lbs napa cabbage
1 lb ground pork
Mixture #1
3/4 tsp rice wine
3/4 tsp salt
dash of sesame oil
dash of ground black pepper
1 tsp chopped scallions (green onions)
1 tsp minced ginger root (you can sometimes also find ginger puree in a tube in Western grocery stores, in the fresh herbs section)
1 egg
4 Tbsp water
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Mixture #2
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp water (cold or room temperature. If you use hot water, the cornstarch won’t dissolve.)
1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Mixture #3
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Rinse the cabbage lightly; remove and retain four of the large outer leaves (keep them whole). Chop remaining cabbage leaves into 2-inch pieces.
Mix the ground pork with Mixture #1, then divide into four portions. Roll each portion into a ball. (Four is an unlucky number in Chinese culture, so I usually make five smaller meatballs.)
Stir Mixture #2 together in a shallow bowl or plate until cornstarch is dissolved.
Heat wok then add 4 Tbsp oil. Dip each meatball into Mixture #2 (you have to kind of roll it around so it is evenly coated. Yes, it’s messy). Fry the meatballs until all sides are golden brown; remove. (Don’t worry if the meatballs flatten out a bit — real lion’s heads aren’t perfectly round, either.)
Fry the pieces of cabbage (in the same wok) and add 1 cup water; cover and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Line the bottom of a large pot (like a Dutch oven) with the cabbage. Place the meatballs on top of the cabbage. Cover the meatballs with the four cabbage leaves reserved in the first step (these are the “manes!”). Add Mixture #3; cover and turn the heat to low.
Cook for 1 hour or until cabbage is soft. Serve with steamed rice.
My Notes:
The recipe says that pressed bean curd, Chinese black mushrooms (dried winter mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms that have been rehydrated), and bamboo shoots may be added to the ground pork to taste. Chop finely before adding.
Supposedly, this recipe serves 12. But if you have ravenous teens (AKA your very own Nian monsters) like I do, you can increase the amount of ground pork and Mixture #1 accordingly and just make more meatballs.
I don’t think this dish technically qualifies as a casserole since it’s made on the stovetop and not the oven, but, you know, it sounds better. I also use a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time (see aforementioned ravenous teens). I haven’t tried it, but I bet you could adapt this recipe for a slow cooker or Instant Pot, too.
Enjoy!
Large pork meatball on bed of cabbage and rice in a white bowl with chopsticks resting across it.
*: Huang Su-Huei. Chinese Cuisine. Wei-Chuan’s Cooking, Taiwan and California. 1984.
Whew, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. What better day to begin again than Instant Ramen Day?
Sixty-two years ago, on August 25, 1958, Momofuku Ando and his company Nissin Foods released Chicken Ramen (AKA Chiken Ramen), the first instant noodle product. While it wasn’t an overnight success, instant ramen is now sold all over the world. According to the World Instant Noodles Association, global demand for instant noodles in 2019 was 106,420 MILLION servings (that’s 106,420,000)!! Judging by how bare the shelves have been during the pandemic, I bet demand for instant noodles in 2020 has only increased.
My family definitely does its share of eating instant noodles. In the photo above are the different kinds that we currently have in our pantry. They’re from Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, and Taiwan, and have very different tastes, textures, and spice levels (ranging from mild to sear-your-taste-buds-off). What kind of instant noodles do you have in your pantry?
News about MAGIC RAMEN: THE STORY OF MOMOFUKU ANDO
I’m so pleased to share that MAGIC RAMEN is being published in Korean by Charlie Book! Google Translate says the Korean title is RAMEN KING, ANDO which I love!
Other Book News:
My next picture book, WATERCRESS, will be published on March 30, 2021 by Holiday House/Neal Porter Books. It is gorgeously illustrated by Jason Chin, a Caldecott Honoree. Check out the cover! It’s also available for pre-order through your local indies and online retailers. If you order from IndieBound and email proof of purchase and your mailing address to me at AndreaWangBooks@gmail.com, I’ll send you a sticker of the cover!
Momofuku Ando believed that eating instant ramen every day kept him going to the ripe old age of 96. While I don’t know if doctors would agree with him, I hope that you are healthy and that your ramen bowl is never empty!
Thanks so much for reading this post. If it reached you in error or you no longer wish to receive posts from me, please email me and I’ll unsubscribe you.
I’m excited to be participating in Multicultural Children’s Book Day for the second time, not only as an author sponsor but also as a book reviewer. This year, I received Willie: Does it matter? by Nonna Debora (AKA Debora Emmert) and published by Riverword Communications, Inc. for review. This book is part of the RhymeTime series by the publisher and is one of two Willie books in the series so far.
Willie is a red-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian boy who “wants to learn what makes people like each other.” The book is not a story in the traditional sense, with plot and character arcs, but instead consists of eleven rhyming stanzas. Each stanza shows Willie asking a different person whether one of his character traits matters to them. In the first half of the book, Willie learns that physical attributes like height, weight, or hair and eye color don’t affect how he is liked by these people. Later, he learns that traits such as honesty, loyalty, and kindness do matter.
Child readers will be able to relate to all of the character traits in the book, although I disagree with the one about being funny. Mrs. McBiggle tells Willie that it does matter that he is funny, because his jokes always make her giggle. Being able to make someone laugh is a wonderful skill, but should it be presented as a requirement for friendship? Not all of us are naturally funny. The rhymes are simple and the text is easy to read, with a few words such as “advised” or “intoned” that may need explanation. Maybe it’s due to the verse form (I am not a poet) but I found the punctuation in the book to be odd. The stanzas are set up as a question and a response. For example, here is one of the interior spreads:
Kids probably won’t notice it, but the lack of quotation marks to set off the dialogue felt problematic to me.
The watercolor illustrations by Bonnie J. Murray are colorful and vibrant. I did find myself wishing that more of the characters were children, especially in a book that seems best suited for younger elementary readers. Of the ten people Willie approaches, seven are adults and only three are kids. Three of the characters are people of color, although their ethnicities and cultures are neither specified nor discussed (which is fine, since the book isn’t about that). Judging by their appearances and names, I believe SharJean to be African-American, Bhagoo to be Asian Indian, and Hervé to be Mexican-American. Bhagoo is portrayed in a turban and tunic-style shirt with a scarf over his shoulder and Hervé is wearing a fringed poncho, while Willie and all the other characters are wearing typical American-style clothing. Putting Bhagoo and Hervé in traditional ethnic clothing, especially in a book set in the U.S., feels like it reinforces stereotypes about these cultures. And if Bhagoo is a Sikh, it would be helpful to have an author’s note that explains the turban.
The book ends with grocery store owner Marguerite telling Willie that “It matters what KIND of person you are, and how you treat others each day, not what you look like, or how much you have… It’s what you do and SAY.” While I wholeheartedly commend this sentiment, I find the treatment of the theme to be heavy-handed.
——————-
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
I’m thrilled to be not just an author sponsor but also a book reviewer for Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017! Janelle Diller, co-founder of the Pack-n-Go Girls company, generously sent me one of their books, MYSTERY OF THE MIN MIN LIGHTS. Janelle is also the author of this book! This book is one of a series of Pack-n-Go Girls Adventure chapter books, aimed at 6- to 9-year-olds. The specialty of the Pack-n-Go Girls company, according to their website, is “creating innovative stories and toys for girls that deliver positive messages around independence, adventure, and global awareness.” And now, for my review:
This fun and fast-paced adventure in the Outback stars Wendy Lee, a nine-year-old Chinese American girl who moves from San Francisco to Australia with her mother, who has a short-term work assignment there. Wendy meets her next-door neighbors, Chloe and Jack Taylor, and goes to their sheep station for a weekend visit. She discovers that Chloe and her younger brother believe that the Min Min lights, unidentified lights that “come out of nowhere at night,” are UFOs that abduct people and steal their family’s sheep. The stolen sheep and environmental factors such as a drought may force the Taylor family to give up the station. The three kids decide to sleep outside at night to figure out what is happening to the sheep, despite the threat of snakes, dingoes, and the Min Min lights.
Crikey! A snake!
The story is not the type of mystery where the main character finds clues and solves puzzles. The reader is kept in suspense while the three kids keep watch over the sheep all night long. There is just enough danger to keep young readers riveted without being overly frightening. The story ends with a resolution that is satisfying without being trite.
I really enjoyed that Wendy is portrayed like any other American girl and that the story isn’t about her “Chinese-ness.” She does occasionally talk about her heritage but it isn’t the focus of the book. Instead, she marvels over what anyone else from foggy San Francisco might: the heat, the wild animals, the beauty and vastness of the landscape. Wonderful black and white illustrations by Adam Turner help convey the Australian setting.
A treehouse overlooking the valley.
The text is full of interesting Australian slang like “full as a goog” or “she’s apples” that contrast with the American slang Wendy uses, sometimes to her new friends’ amusement. The back matter is extensive and includes a key to all the slang used in the book and their English counterparts, as well as journal pages where readers can plan out their trip to Australia, and facts about the country. There’s even a recipe for lamingtons, a chocolate and coconut-covered cake dessert which sounds delicious!
MYSTERY OF THE MIN MIN LIGHTS is a fantastic chapter book for kids who love to travel and/or read about other countries and cultures. It broadens horizons without being didactic and fosters compassion and understanding of others without being preachy — exactly the kind of book we need more of today.
You can purchase MYSTERY OF THE MIN MIN LIGHTS on Amazon here and connect to the Pack-n-Go Girls on Twitter, Facebook, and GoodReads.
A little more about Multicultural Children’s Book Day:
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/17) is its fourth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness on the ongoing need to include kid’s books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
Despite census data that shows 37% of the US population consists of people of color, only 10% of children’s books published have diversity content. Using the Multicultural Children’s Book Day holiday, the MCBD Team are on a mission to change all of that.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
I made this Coconut Sticky Rice Cake for my launch party last week and most of it was gone by the end, so I’m guessing people enjoyed it. 🙂 My mom and grandmother used to make a version that was first steamed, then sliced and fried until crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. This baked version is much simpler and less messy to eat.
Coconut Sticky Rice Cake for Chinese New Year (or anytime of year)
I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to find out that Alina Chau would be illustrating The Nian Monster. Her watercolor illustrations are gorgeous — detailed and whimsical, vibrant and humorous. She made Nian ferocious and toothy yet adorable and sympathetic at the same time. Xingling is brave and sassy and joyful. Alina’s own childhood in China and Hong Kong enriched the artwork with authenticity — although she’s never been to Shanghai, she conveyed the atmosphere of this bustling, ancient-yet-also-modern city perfectly.
Now you can get a peek behind the scenes of the artwork in The Nian Monster! Alina and Albert Whitman produced two wonderful videos about her process and inspiration. Check them out below!
All this week, the other debut authors of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency and I are celebrating the release of The Nian Monster on our group blog, EMUs Debuts. Check it out for fun posts about our favorite holiday celebration foods, our reactions if we ever ran into the Nian Monster, and what our favorite resourceful girl characters are. You’ll also find an interview with Alina Chau, the talented illustrator of The Nian Monster, and a list of additional education resources that have been created for the book.
Plus, I’m giving away a copy of The Nian Monster to one lucky winner! To enter, just head over to EMUs Debuts and leave a comment on any of the launch week posts. Giveaway ends on Monday, December 5, 2016.
A teacher’s guide for The Nian Monster is now available, created by the wonderful Anna Chan Rekate. Anna has been a teacher for 20 years, working in schools in NYC, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. She has been to many of the places featured in The Nian Monster! Look inside for discussion questions, cultural and geographical activities, a Q&A with me, and a special recipe!
