Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine (review)

There's no good time or place for a pandemic to emerge, but when the COVID-19 pandemic begins in Wuhan, China, thirteen-year-old Mei Li has just lost her mother in an accident. Her father heads the respiratory unit at a major hospital, and as the still unidentifiable disease rampages through Wuhan, parental and public health orders are flying. Father cautions Mei to keep inside, and as the days go by caution turns to enforcement as officials restrict movement in streets and within apartment compounds. Mei, who loves to cook, knows she has a valuable skill, and she convinces her aunt to let her help at a community kitchen where meals are prepared for distribution to homebound families. Moreover, Mei has a cadre of online buddies addicted to Chop Chop, a culinary competition game, and she organizes them to become distribution point persons in their own complexes. Well-versed now on COVID-19 safety protocols, lockdowns, and shifting public health guidance, American middle schoolers may not have given much thought to the origins of the current pandemic, so this makes a useful, if discouraging, reminder that worry, food management, social isolation, and short tempers are shared globally. So too, however, are creative thinking and volunteerism, and Compestine tacitly suggests the best way to help is with your own passion and skill set. An author's note and several recipes for Mei's dishes are included.