Lost Garden, The

Reach for this book when your child feels like an outsider or struggles to reconcile different parts of their identity. This memoir follows Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep as he grows up in San Francisco, feeling too American for his Chinese neighbors and too Chinese for his American classmates. Through poignant and often humorous vignettes, Yep explores how he transformed his feelings of displacement into a powerful creative voice. Parents will appreciate how the book models resilience and the way it celebrates the specific, vibrant details of family history. It is an excellent choice for children ages 10 to 14 who are beginning to ask deeper questions about where they come from and who they want to become. Ultimately, it is a story about finding a sense of home within one's own imagination and heritage.