There’s a lot of new in Anna’s life right now. Her family has moved into a new house. Anna will be going to a new school in a few weeks. And Anna had just met Lucy, a new neighbor who is also new to the neighborhood. They happen to be the same age, with birthdays only a few days a part. That’s exciting.

With some seeds from Mrs. Shepherd, Anna is wanting to start a garden in their backyard. At the same time, Anna begins reading <i>The Secret Garden</i> and she’s in love with the idea of having a garden just like Mary’s and Dickon’s. Though Lucy doesn’t like vegetables, she is willing to pitch in and help. But Lucy tires easily and would rather do something else. Anna’s not quite sure how to handle that. New friendships can be difficult to navigate.

When they start school, Anna is thrilled to have Lucy in her class. But quite quickly, Lucy takes up soccer (which Anna has no interest in) and Lucy begins to spend a lot of time with her soccer friends. Anna feels hurt. New interests can throw friendships out of balance.

It’s an orphaned baby bunny that seems to bring the girls back together with a common interest and goal.

There’s so much to love about this novel. A caring family, a multigenerational friendship, and two plucky characters learning how friendships must include some give and take. A wonderful book for 2nd grade and up.

Great prequel for Anna's life and provides insight into how she became friends with Laura.

A fun story to bring you back to these characters. I love these stories and I am so sad this is the last one from Andrea Cheng. This is a great series of discovering yourself and learning more about other cultures.

Fans of Anna Wang will be happy to see this last book which Andrea Cheng was working on at the time of her death on December 26, 2015. The Year of the Garden is a prequel to the three Anna Wang novels already published.

Anna, 8, and her family have just moved from their apartment in Manor Court to a home of their own, though they are still in Cincinnati. And now, Anna has a yard in the need some care.

Accompanying her mother to her Saturday job cleaning the apartment of elderly Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, Anna is happy to be given a copy of The Secret Garden along with some normal seed packets from Mrs. Shepherd’s garden.

The next day, reading The Secret Garden in the yard, she meet Laura, who has also just moved to the same neighborhood. Both girls are happy to find out that they will in third grade together at their new school. Anna and Laura begin to plan a garden using Mrs. Shepherd’s seeds, but once school begins, Laura loses interest. Instead, she decides to join the soccer team, making new friends there. Feeling a bit alone, Anna worries that their friendship may not last.

But finding a baby bunny in the yard brings them together again in a common cause to save the bunny. Unable to find the rabbit’s mother, the girls make a bed in a cardboard box, and put the bunny on the porch. Laura knows something about saving rabbits, and tells Anna they need to fed this baby some dog or cat milk. When none is available at the pet store, Laura’s mother drives the girls to her aunt’s in Indiana, who is an old hand at rescuing baby animals.

And so Anna and Laura spend part of their weekend at taking turns feeding their bunny with a eye dropper. Saving the bunny brings the two girls closer together, and Anna realizes that she can be friends with someone who doesn’t share all her interests, that a real friendship is based on acceptance and flexibility.

I always thought that Andrea Cheng’s Anna Wang series is perfect for readers at the chapter book level. Cheng seems to be able to identify just the right kinds of concerns and issues kids have, and The Year of the Garden is no different. Anna and Laura’s friendship hits some real bumps in the road that they have to work out. School is good for Anna, who likes it, but not for Laura, who lacks focus.

Cheng also presents Anna’s Chinese culture with respect and understanding. Anna’s mother is a Chinese immigrant who is working hard to learn English, her father is Chinese American. And Laura and the reader are introduced to some Chinese traditions, such as receiving a red envelope or Hong bao for Chinese New Year’s (each Anna Wang book expands on Chinese traditions).

I did findThe Year of the Garden carried a nice theme of growing throughout the book - Anna (and Laura) growing as people and friends, a motherless bunny growing strong and healthy, Anna seeds growing in her garden. However, I felt the story was a little thin, as though it wasn’t really a finished novel, more like a draft. Despite that, I would still recommend it to Anna Wang fans, but don’t expect the same level of story that you find in the previous novels.

Patrice Barton’s numerous black and while spot illustrations throughout help to fortify the story and add so much to it.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Another quiet and gentle Anna Wong story which works as a prequel to The Year of the Book. Anna just moved into their new house, starts a new school and makes a friend. Making a friend seems easy but maintaining the friendship especially when you have different interests, is not an easy task. I have enjoyed the Anna Wong series from the very first book and was thrilled when I discovered that Andrea Cheng made us this final gift before her passing. The series is a perfect match for readers who enjoyed Grace Lin's Pacy Lin series, who enjoy warm and gentle tales about family, friendship and finding your place in the world.

Anna Wang is about to start third grade, and her family just moved into a new house. She's nervous about the new school, a new teacher, and making new friends. Her Chinese immigrant parents are very caring, but her father works hard and her mother still struggles with her English. 

Anna's mother helps an elderly couple clean their home. Anna goes along and develops a friendship with Mrs. Shepherd. She was an avid gardener when she was younger, and she wants to pass that on to Anna, so she gifts Anna with some seeds to get her started as well as a copy of her favorite book from childhood, The Secret Garden. 

With the inspiration from The Secret Garden and Mrs. Sheherd and with help from her new friend from up the street, Laura, Anna is determined to create a backyard garden that will offer up food for their table, inspiration for her schoolwork, a project for her and Laura's friendship, and healing for the Shepherds. It's a tall order, but Anna's determined to make it happen, and her young spirit will not be stopped. 

I am such a big fan of Andrea Cheng's Anna Wang books! They are beautifully gentle and wise, smart and sweet and honest. This one is a prequel to her first book in the series, The Year of the Book, and it's just as lovely as the other four books in the series. Read them all, gift them to all your elementary school reader friends, and encourage them to follow their hearts and stay true to themselves. 

Sadly, we lost author Andrea Cheng in 2015, so this will probably be the end to this lovely series. It's a sad ending for us readers, but her legacy will live on through these books and the characters, and that is a beautiful gift to us all. 



Galleys for The Year of the Garden were supplied by the publisher through NetGalley,com.

Years ago my dad brought me a DVD of The Secret Garden. I had no interest in it. I hadn't even heard of The Secret Garden before. But, like the good daughter I am, I indulged his buy and watched the movie. I became enchanted with the secret garden, Mary, Colin, and Dickon. Their story brought out the nature lover in me. It showed how nature can transform your day, but in Mary's case your life, into a happy one. I jumped at a chance to read The Year of the Garden since I love The Secret Garden and have read and enjoyed a few of the Anna Wang series.

This is a prequel of Anna's other stories where she grows her friendship with Laura. Anna loves digging up dirt and gardening but Laura doesn't feel the same way. She constantly asks to have the seeds they are trying to grow so she can get her family member to grow it on their farm instead of growing them themselves. It's really the strangest and most annoying thing ever. Why doesn't she come out and say she rather not be growing plants? Or why doesn't Laura just garden with her for a little while and then later on or the day after they can do something she likes to do? Where is the communication??? I know they are little kids but Laura just frustrated me so much. I think she just blatantly lied in there to get out of gardening too. It's just gardening. Why are you so weird about being outside? It's healthy for you. I know Laura is just young and has a lot to learn. The story is based around this friendship and what it means to be a friend. How you need to communicate your feelings and your friends might not like everything you like to do which is true to life.

I liked the basis of the story but there wasn't anything that wowed me. I prefer Anna's other stories where there is a bit more of a plot to them. The only thing that I liked or was impressed about was that Anna could read The Secret Garden at eight years old. Overall, The Year of the Garden was an okay read.

A nice little story about friendship. While this is marked for children in grades 1 - 4, it occurred to me that we can all occasionally use a reminder of what it takes to be a friend.

I did not realize this was a prequel to an already established series. I enjoyed this one so much, I'm going to give some of the other books a try.

ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group, via Netgalley. Publish date: April 11, 2017.

I've read the first two books in this series and enjoyed them, so I decided to give this one a shot.
Overall, it was a light-hearted and quick read. The main character, Anna, goes through various struggles and adventures making and maintaining a friendship with her neighbor Laura. Together, they plant a garden inspired by The Secret Garden and rescue a baby rabbit.

Plot-wise, the story was engaging and entertaining. However, I had some reservations regarding the way Anna's Chinese language proficiency was portrayed. This is what I got from the story:
-her 2nd+ generation (I'm assuming?) Chinese American father only speaks English
-her first generation Chinese American mother is ESL and LEP (limited English proficiency)
-Anna herself speaks English fluently and barely knows any Chinese
-Anna doesn't know how to pronounce her own Chinese name but somehow knows that "xin nian kuai le" means "happy new year"
-her mother doesn't know what dumplings are called in English but can help Anna with her U.S. state capital flash cards
Between all these bits, I felt like I had pieces to a puzzle that didn't fit together. I had a lot of questions: How did her parents get together with this language barrier? Why doesn't Anna's mother talk to her in Chinese? Is it really realistic for Anna not to know how to pronounce her own Chinese name, given her parents' background?

Also, as a native Chinese-speaker, I wasn't a fan of the phonetic spellings used in the Mandarin pronunciation guide at the beginning. I felt like some of them did not represent the pronunciations well.

The last thing that bothered me was the romanticizing of pioneers and the Little House in the Woods, which are dependent upon colonialism and racism against/erasure of Native Americans. I wish kidlit could move beyond celebrating these narratives and instead highlight the stories of Natives/people of color.

've been meaning to read some of Andrea Cheng's work ever since I had two very excited grade three students argue over who would be first to read The Year of the Baby. They were shocked that I had not read The Year of the Book.

The Year of the Garden is a good one for me to start with since it is a prequel to the first in the series.

I now get their joy.

This story introduces us to a diverse group of characters who have positive relationships with each other. Anna, a young girl with at least some Chinese background, and her family have moved into a new neighbourhood. Anna's father doesn't speak Chinese, and her mother is learning English. Mrs. Cheng works as a housekeeper for an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs. Shepherd. She brings Anna and her brother, Ken, along with her. The relationship between the children and this aging couple is one of the things that I loved about this book. It's Mrs Shepherd giving Anna a copy of The Secret Garden along with a packet of seeds that gets Anna interested in gardening.

Laura is also new to the neighbourhood. The two meet and become friends the summer before starting grade three at their new school. Laura is crazy about soccer and anything to do with animals. Anna is more interested in her garden, reading and creating things. These differences come to a head and seem to create a rift between them when the two girls start school. At one point Anna thinks their friendship is over and her mother tries to comfort her. It seems like there might not be a solution until Anna finds a baby rabbit and goes to Laura for help to save it.

What I Appreciate about this book:
Cheng's authentic characters deal with realistic problems. Their diversity doesn't get in the way of solid friendships as they all learn to be better human beings. These children have loving parents and normal siblings who live within a supportive community. I welcomed the integration of what Anna and Laura are learning at school about caring for the environment into their own lives.
Patrice Barton's line drawings capture the sweetness of the story. I confirm that this is a delightful series for readers ready to move beyond beginning chapter books.

Fans will have to wait for its publication date on April 11th.

I should acknowledge a personal connection I made to this book that might make me biased. My son and his Korean partner are expecting a baby this June. I can imagine their daughter being a little Anna.

Anna Wang is an 8 year old girl who moved to a new house with her parents and her brother Ken. She is worried about friends and school. When she is given a gift of seeds and the book The Secret Garden, she decides that she will make a garden in the backyard. It is easier said than done. As she sits under a honeysuckle bush reading her book, Laura, another new girl to the neighbourhood, pops in. They become great friends and even end up in the same class. They are not interested in the same things and Anna is worried that their friendship won't last. When they find a baby bunny under the bushes, they are worried it will die overnight in the cold. With the help of Laura's aunt they are able to nurse it and keep it healthy. Read about Anna and Laura and how friendship can survive the odds or other friends and interests. There is some discussion of the cultural differences such as food and difficulty with the language, but it is not a major part of the story. A quick read for young readers. I like the mention of other books in this story as it should peak the interest in those books as well for the reader. A good addition to a late primary, early junior classroom or home library.