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Reviewed by:
  • The Year of the Baby by Andrea Cheng
  • Jeannette Hulick
Cheng, Andrea . The Year of the Baby; illus. by Patrice Barton. Houghton, 2013. [176p]. ISBN 978-0-547-91067-3 $15.99 R Gr. 3-5.

Anna, the Chinese-American star of The Year of the Book (BCCB 7/12), is a fifth-grader now, and she's dealing with new challenges, primarily a new baby sister (adopted from China) who is failing to thrive, and a difficult science-fair project. Baby Kaylee's stubborn refusal of food wears on the family, especially Anna's concerned mom, until Anna's best friend Camille comes up with an idea: distract Kaylee with songs while feeding her in hopes that she will eat more. Camille's plan seems to work, so much so that Anna comes up with a way to base her science project on the plan. Not only does Anna end up acing her science assignment, but Kaylee also begins to gain some weight and the family's worries ease. Anna continues to be a perceptive and intelligent narrator, with an observational eye that is genuine, sensitive, and astute. The family and friendship dynamics have realistic depth as well: Anna, Camille, and their friend Laura each struggle with extricating themselves graciously from a science project group headed by some bossier girls, for example, and Kaylee's adoptive status has Anna asking big questions about identity and family. Barton's numerous pen and ink illustrations (digitally colored) are appealingly gentle and softly shaded, although Anna and her friends appear somewhat younger than fifth-graders. The science-fair and adoption angles make this useful in a number of settings, and readers who have followed Anna since fourth grade will hope Cheng goes on to keep tabs on her as she reaches sixth grade. A glossary/ pronunciation guide of Chinese terms is included.

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