A young girl struggles appreciating her Chinese heritage and is embarrassed when her parents stop to pick watercress in a muddy ditch. When she refuses to eat the cooked watercress at dinner, her mother shares about her childhood in China during the great famine. Learning a bit about her family's history, she begins to accept her heritage.
Beautiful illustrations (Of course . . .Jason Chin is the illustrator!!) capture the mood. When the mother shares her story, the illustrations are a different hue. Two of my favorite illustrations are when Mr. Chin depicts the family at the table at the start of the famine and then after her brother dies. The effects of the famine are deeply pronounced in the later illustration.
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.
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