I honestly really enjoyed spending time in this story. Meilan felt like a really realistic character. Her confusion at the disagreement between her family members, her sorrow of missing her cousins, her desire and burden to be a "good daughter" and "good student," her anger and humiliation from being bullied by the principal, teachers and the school bully. All of it felt so very realistic. I loved how Meilan spent time interpreting the meanings of her name, and how each meaning took on a persona based on Meilan's environment. It was both clever and poetic. I absolutely loved Meilan's relationship with her grandfather, as well as how he brought out the best in the twins. Meilan's experiences with racism and microaggressions will likely resonate with readers. The topic is handled with care. I have no idea if there is a sequel in the works, but I would definitely love to visit with Meilan's family again. Highly recommend for readers that enjoy realistic fiction with characters trying to find their way and their place in the world.

The beginning of this book left me a little confused, but shortly thereafter I was hooked! I wanted to know if Meilan would ever integrate into her class, make friends, or discover whether her father had really taken money from the family business. I loved how the author wove the Mandarin language and how Meilan was learning the language from her parents. This book gave the reader a glimpse into what life as an immigrant could be like. I think it should be on reading lists everywhere!

Meilan's name has many meanings. Inside she feels like each of those names keeps her safe or gets her in trouble. This is a story about a girl who carries the weight of her family on her shoulders. A girl who had a life that she fit in and was comfortable in. When one of her dreams is misinterpreted by her father's family, her she and her parents sell the bakery they had co-owned with her father's siblings and strike out on their own in a new town in a different state.

Redbud, Ohio

Ohio is nothing like Chinatown in Boston where Meilan grew up. No one speaks her language, there isn't an Asian grocery for miles and she is one of a handful of kids who aren't white at the new school. Meilan's goal is to keep her head down and her parents proud. The racism of one school administrator keeps her from fading away into the background and it is that barrier that helps Meilan break out of her sorrow and into the full confidence of her real name.

This book is written with nuance and care. An own voices story about what it is like to be the firstborn American child of Taiwanese parents stuck between tradition and a world that isn't quite accepting of the diversity of the new generations.

This book is written with bittersweetness and hope. The friendships that Meilan develops and the deepening understanding of her family and their own trials bring depth to Meilan. This could have been a much more surface novel, but I appreciated the author's work in showing that our cultural identity and Americanism are not so easily joined. Wang helps the reader confront their own biases and microaggressions without being heavy-handed. History is also discussed focusing not on the American lens, but the lens of other people who fought in wars.

This would make an excellent book discussion book or a book on racism and bias. Well done. Thought-provoking and challenging in all the right ways.

The Many Meanings of Meilan by Andrea Wag is a great middle grade book for Asian-American fiction. This is an enjoyable coming-of-age story that tells the story of 12 year old Meilan Hua, a creative and intelligent storyteller whose name has many meanings.

Can a made up story really tear a family apart?

Meilan is afraid it can. After telling her younger sister a made up bedtime story, her extended family is now fighting and falling apart. Now Meilan and her sister and parents are moving from Boston to Ohio.

Meilan already has the weight of guilt on her shoulders from creating the story that seemingly tore her extended family apart, but now she is adding the weight of a new school, a new, more American identity as “Melanie,” and some awful kids who have nothing nice to say to or about her because she is Asian.

Can Meilan find the strength and courage to stand up for herself and her heritage?

This book was fantastic. It is a middle grade novel, but it is so important because it touches on hard subjects like racism, equality, and standing up for yourself, which are all difficult things to overcome when you aren’t entirely sure who you are to begin with.

I really enjoyed Meilan’s character. I loved that you could see her progress and get more confident as the story went on. I was rooting for her the entire way.

I also enjoyed some of the Chinese vocabulary that was integrated into the story. I don’t know any Chinese at all, so it was both fun and educational to read (and listen to the pronunciation in the audio version!)

5 stars, recommended to everyone, especially those middle graders who are struggling with standing up for who they are and what is right.

The Many Meanings of Meilan was a beautiful middle-grade story of a family's move out of Boston's Chinatown. The storytelling is beautiful and I loved the way that Meilan's storytelling was woven into the fabric of the larger story. This would be wonderful for teaching in middle school.

Meilan goes on a journey both physical and emotional as her family moves from Boston to a small town in Ohio. She is away from the community and culture she has known all her life, and she must navigate the challenges of a rift between her family and relatives who remained behind and of racism and prejudice from some of those in her new life. As she encounters each new situation, she connects with different possible meanings of her name, considering which might fit her best while building her understanding of the people around her. This is a story that shows how each person may have many hidden layers to their identity and how keeping an open mind and heart can allow people to better understand themselves and others.

This is a bit late, but I just wanted to say how much I absolutely ADORED this book. It was poignant and touching, yet accessible and easily consumed. The journey that Meilan goes on is so relatable, and the way her learnings associate with the different meanings of her name was just so beautiful that I thought about it for many weeks after reading the book. I studied Mandarin for a bit, so it left a real impression how that wove into the narrative of the story. Filled with beautiful cultural and mythological touches, this really was a magical book in more ways than one.

Meilan is twelve-year-old Taiwanese American girl, living in Boston with her extended family that run a bakery named, the Golden Phoenix. Suddenly the bakery is sold and Meilan, her parents, and grandfather move to a small town in Ohio. This situation forces Meilan to adapt to a completely different environment without her cousins and friends for support.

As with most preteens, Meilan does not want to standout, but in the small town of Redbud, Ohio she clearly does. To make matters worse, the principle misunderstands the pronunciation of Melian’s name and introduces her as ‘Melanie.’ Meilan is too shy in the moment to correct her. So, as the new kid in school, with the added distinction of appearing ‘different’ Meilan struggles through until an assembly honoring veterans, lets her express herself freely.

As Meilan takes the stage to speak about her grandfather, she carefully explains her real name and how to say it, and then introduces her grandfather. The kids understand now, and surround Meilan with friendly questions. ‘A little knowledge helps break down walls.’

This reminds me of when I went to school with girls named Debbie, Mary, and Patty, where a name like Toni was different. When I went to college, I cherished my name.

Meilan simply wants to fit-in with all the other kids, without losing the traditions she and her family hold dear. Isn’t that what we all want? I think so.

A wonderful book to help children understand that we may appear different on the outside, but we are essentially all the same, we are all people.

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Group: Young Readers, Kokila, and Andrea Wang

When her cousins ask her where her Taiwanese-American family bakery, Golden Phoenix, got its name, Meilan starts to question her self-identity as a second-generation American. Moving to Ohio, Meilan starts to experience microaggressions from people around her, including the principal refusing to call her anything but Melanie. As she begins to experience isolation and dislocation, she turns more and more to her familial narrative. Mixed with allusions to Chinese fairy tales, the imagery and reference to it are vivid and add depth to the story. The character is easy to relate to, but the haphazard pacing may turn some readers off. Recommended where diverse books are needed or popular. 3.5 stars, Gr 3 to 7
Please note: This was a review copy given to us by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No financial compensation was received.

This book! It's about a young girl who tells a story that ends up causing her family to sell their family bakery and move away from all she knows and holds dear, but it's also about who she has to be for her family (a basket holding all of their expectations) and who she is at school (mist, so she can slide through her days unseen). Most of all, it's about Meilan learning to embrace who she really is, which includes the name that she's never truly felt comfortable with. This story will resonate with anyone who has ever felt uncertain about who they are or where they belong.

Meilan Hua's family is having a hard time following her grandmother's passing. The bakery isn't doing as well as it once was, and the adults in the family are fighting and accusing one another of holding things back left and right. Finally, Meilan's parents decide to move her and her grandfather away for a fresh start, and end up in a small town called Redbud, which is far from anything Meilan has ever known in more ways than one.

Mei is far from her family, old friends, and her neighborhood, which was very diverse. Here in Redbud, there is no one else who looks like her, and Meilan begins to experience racism, intentional and otherwise, at the hands of both classmates and adults. She is made to change her name to Melanie, and Melanie tries to fly under the radar as best she can to avoid stares, bullying, and being told that her family is not "American" enough.

However, one person she meets might be able to help her see that she can be proud of her heritage and also be just as "American" as anyone else, they aren't mutually exclusive things.

This story took a hard look at racism through the eyes of a child, in a way that is accessible and understandable by kids yet still highlights the very real injustices that people of color face every day, with a fabulous story about family and friendship to go along with it.

What an incredible book! Meilan knows her name has many meanings, and through different challenges in her new school & neighborhood she tries to fit into different “meanings.” Themes of friendship, bullying, fitting in, identity, finding a voice to speak up and explain. Very well written!

This has been my most anticipated book of 2021 so far & it DID NOT disappoint. This was a window & a door for me into Meilan Hua's life. I will be recommending to everybody (adults included).

This book was a beautiful exploration of identity, culture, and belonging. I felt everything along with Meilan! Meilan's friendship with Logan grew naturally, and believably, and their final rescue was phenomenal - and the conclusion was absolutely perfect. Loved this book and I am definitely going to be purchasing it for our library! Thank you!

I received an electronic ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley.
Wang shares an honest look at a family dealing with extended grief and connections that are too tight. Meilan's father runs the bakery his parents began. He is committed to keeping it going after his mother's death. The book opens with the stresses this causes in the extended family and this part of the book finishes with the sale of the bakery and Meilan's family moving away. Gonggong (grandfather) goes with them. Wang shares their travels and visits with friends to set the tone for where they choose to settle. It's a bit obvious to her point to choose a small town in the midwest, but that doesn't significantly change the overall themes.
Meilan and her family struggle to fit in and are met with spoken and unspoken rejection. She deals with open prejudice from her first meeting with the principal who changes her name to an "American" one. It's at this point that the story picks up the pace and stays focused on Meilan finding her courage to speak up for herself and drop the Mist she has surrounded herself with for survival. Meilan is a relatable narrator and main character. Readers will connect with her journey and see themselves somewhere in these middle school characters. Though the story begins slowly and goes over the same ground a bit too much, the overall message is strong and should make readers think about their own actions and needs.

I am eternally on the search for sticky books—stories that grip you from the very first chapter and refuse to let you go until you’ve devoured every last word. Sometimes, they continue to cling onto your heart and your mind, long after you’ve closed the last page.

The Many Meanings of Meilan is the ultimate sticky book. Immediately, I was sucked into Meilan’s world and I felt like I was experiencing her life, feeling her injustices, disappointments, and triumphs right there with her—as her. I was invested straight away, and the next time I looked up from the book, it was 2am in the morning and I had read the entire thing in one go!

The first thing I fell in love with was the beautiful prose. Simple, succinct, and deeply powerful, the imagery seeped straight into my bones. It felt like finding magic hiding in the most obvious of places, which is also what I loved about Meilan. Even when the injustices and difficulties of settling into a new home, school, and neighbourhood proved too much, she saw magic in the corners of her every day existence, calling upon its enchantments and drawing them into her life.

The second thing I fell in love with was the idea that good and bad (and ignorance) exists in all of us. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, sometimes good people can be ignorant, and it can all be deeply unfair. But Meilan takes us on her journey, showing us through her own realizations (and her mother’s proverbs!) that it’s how we let these incidents affect and shape us that truly measures one’s courage. The foundation of Chinese mythology, belief, and language added such wealth to the story; and as a student of Mandarin, I devoured these fully and wholeheartedly. The American experience is so rich for its diversity and complexity.

In summary, The Many Meanings of Meilan is a moving story about one girl’s search for self, and how she finds her voice and her place in her family and her community. It’s easy to compartmentalize our identities, and to run from the things that make us scared. But through Meilan, Andrea Wang teaches us that there is an alternative—one that is imperfect, but full of hope, growth, and ultimately, love. The Many Meanings of Meilan is a middle grade must-read for 2021.

Andrea Wang's The Many Meanings of Meilan is one of the best works of Asian-American fiction I've read in a long spell. Geared for middle-schoolers and up, this enjoyable coming-of-age novel tells the story of 12 year old Meilan Hua, a creative and intelligent storyteller. Due to family in-fighting and subsequent sibling alienation over finances and the status of the family-owned Chinese bakery, Feng Huang, Meilan moves with her parents and paternal grandfather, Gong Gong, from Boston, MA to the small, white-majority town of Redbud, Ohio.

Those knowledgeable about Chinese culture will doubtless notice the close parallel between Meilan's name and the legendary Chinese woman warrior famed for her filial piety and courage: Hua Mulan. In several metaphoric senses, Meilan too is a warrior. She is overcoming grief over the recent death of her beloved grandmother, Nainai, and being uprooted from family, friends, and her comfortable life in Boston. In Redbone, as the only Taiwanese-American student in an otherwise racially-homogenous school, she confronts racism--even on the first day, the principal, Mr. Reynard, strips Meilan's cultural identity and name from her, forcing Meilan to be called by an American name, "Melanie." From a Chinese cultural standpoint, the obliteration of Meilan's name is not simply an insensitive, racist move, but one that cruelly stabs the soul. Chinese ascribe deep significance to names, typically bestowed by family elders who carefully consider the meaning of the characters, which express familial good wishes and fortune for the child. Erasing one's name, in a sense, erases not only self, but the person's auspicious future. Meilan also encounters additional challenges: bullying, financial struggles, and making new friends, difficulties which are arguably exacerbated by her status as a bicultural, bilingual Asian-American.

While there's been a recent spathe of middle-school and YA books, written by BIPOC authors and featuring non-white protagonists, The Many Meanings of Meilan is by no means, just another book that superficially clicks off the "Diversity" checkbox. Instead, Wang deftly weaves in Chinese cultural traditions and values, as well as extensive use of Mandarin Chinese linguistic terms: food, the special names delineating maternal and paternal relatives and their birth order status, customs to honor the dead, and chengyu: Chinese proverbs. I thought the inclusion of Pinyin romanization and tones was a terrific authorial choice to provide cultural ambiance and specificity, and also help non-Chinese speakers to experience and learn some Mandarin Chinese. Since my review is based on a NetGalley ARC, I’m also hoping that the publisher will also include the Chinese characters, as well as the phonetization, in the final published version, to make the phrases easier to reference. Also, the publisher might consider, to avoid any potential confusion on the part of Chinese-speaking readers, that in Taiwan, the term for paternal and maternal grandfather is identical: Gong Gong [公公]. However, in other Chinese-speaking regions, one’s paternal grandfather is Ye Ye [爺爺], whereas one’s maternal grandfather is Wai Gong [外公]or, more casually, Gong Gong [公公].

The title of the book also draws upon a unique Chinese cultural interest: homophonic verbal punning. Characters in Chinese may sound the same, but their tones and meanings differ. For example, the second character "Lan" [蘭] in Meilan's name, means "orchid", a popular flower in Chinese culture which symbolizes female beauty, grace, and refinement. Wang cleverly uses two other homophones of "lan" to capture Meilan's other metatphoric states: 藍 “blue", symbolizing Meilan's grief and alienation; 籃 "basket/receptacle", which might indicate the protagonist's receiving life's burdens, or more positively, that she is the repository of her family's love and aspirations and the collector of friends.

恭喜恭喜 (Congratulations) to Andrea Wang for this superb, thoughful novel! I’m hoping that The Many Meanings of Meilan will take its rightful place in the canon of new American literature.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young readers group for the digital advanced copy for me to review.
The Many Meanings of Meilan captured my attention from page one. Meilan is a talented storyteller, but shys away when a family feud is started. This feud causes Meilan, her mother, father, and grandfather to, move to rural Ohio. Meilan is thrown into a world so different from Boston's Chinatown where she was raised. Meilan must learn to adapt to a new home, deal with multiple micro aggressions, and trying to fit in and be "American" enough for her new community. This book is a must-read.

Meilan Hua has enjoyed life with her mom, dad, extended family and the bakery they operate. When her grandmother dies, a huge family argument causes her parents to move away from the rest of the family taking her grandfather with them. Andrea Wang created a beautiful story for middle grades students perfectly weaving together loss, friendship, and diversity and inclusion. Not only does Meilan have to deal with being new in town, starting a new middle school and making friends, but she also has to suffer through dealing with those who aren’t accepting of people of color, as the only Asian student in her class. Wang helped readers journey with Meilan to find her strength and eventually be able to speak up for herself. Middle school students would enjoy this book for so many reasons! Thank you to netgalley for the e-arc. #empowerment #socialjustice #middlegradesbooks @diversebooks @andreaywang