The Journey To Mei
Freddie Remza
Review by A. E. Jaskiewicz
How would you feel if you
were an only child and, when you were ten, you found out that your
parents were
going to adopt a baby from China? Well, that’s
exactly what’s happening to Shelly. At
first she’s upset. However, the more she
learns about China and what it means to be a big sister, the
more and
more excited she gets. Soon she’s
excited about the journey to get her new little sister, Mei.
The Journey to Mei is a fast
moving tale about adoption from the perspective of a ten year old
sister-to-be
named Shelly. Along with being a tale
about acceptance of new circumstances, it is also full of facts about China. Readers can
learn about a lot of Chinese customs, what Chinese people really eat,
and even
learn some of the language. This is all
stuff that could be interesting for young readers.
The lead character of the
story is Shelly. She is generally a
likeable character who kids could relate to.
However, sometimes Shelly seems almost too mature for her age at
times. This can be seen with how quickly
she becomes
adapted to all the new situations presented to her.
These range from learning her parents are
adopting, to finding out she won’t be in homeroom with her best friend
Amy when
they start middle school. Shelly’s parents also play a big part of the
story. They do seem like typical parents
who will clearly do anything for their new daughter, and their daughter
that
they are trying to adopt. Generally, the
characterization seems pretty typical of how you would envision parents
and
kids to be interacting.
The story of the book is
interesting, but it almost seemed like the conflicts that arise in the
book are
too easily overcome. By the end of the
first few chapters, it is easy to catch on to the fact that if a
conflict does
arise, or there is something that Shelly says she doesn’t want to adapt
to, it
will be resolved by the end of the chapter.
A little more resistance to change on the part of Shelly would
have made
the reader want to push forward more to find out if the conflict would
get
resolved, and how.
On a very positive note, this
book would be a good read for a child who is going through something
similar in
their life. It does give a good
perspective for what a child could expect if their family is going to
be
adopting a baby, and what is all involved in the process.
Overall, I would
say that The
Journey to Mei is a fast moving and interesting book for kids at a
middle grade
reading level. The facts about China are a good learning tool, and there are even
pictures
at the back of the book that would be interesting for kids. Plus, the story has a good lesson entwined
into the story about why it’s good for families to adopt.