When I read Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, I found it to be a remarkable middle grade reader. Fun and thoughtful, easy to follow while still probing deep questions and ideas. Yang exhibits all that same skill in her latest book while tackling big issues like the Covid-19 crisis and anti-Asian racism. I initially read Front Desk when I bought it as a birthday gift for my 11-year-old niece. (I always buy my nieces and nephews books and try to read them in advance.) I then recommended it to my husband who teaches kids that age and he was also impressed with the way Yang wrote and has since used the book in his classroom. So when I saw her latest book available on NetGalley, I requested it. Although my own kids are a few years from reading books like this, I think this is a book that both works well now for kids who are and have been living through these Covid-19 years, and for kids a few years from now who want to know more about what it was like.

Our narrator is Knox, a pre-teen kid living in Hong Kong with his parents, his older brother and his little sister. It is early 2020 and coronavirus is a word just starting to be used. Remembering the SARs crisis of a few years earlier, Knox’s parents decide they need to take their kids out of Hong Kong and return to their home in California. However, Knox’s dad can’t leave his job and so the three kids return to America with only their mom. Knox’s dad is a Caucasian American while Knox’s mom is a Chinese-born, American immigrant. His parents met while students at Berkeley and Knox, Bowen, and Lea live their lives between California and Hong Kong.

Knox doesn’t want to leave Hong Kong and especially his dad but once they arrive in California, he finds things to appreciate. He makes a friend at his new school and for once has a teacher who seems to understand him and who he actually learns from. Knox has trouble controlling himself and thinking things through. Adult readers may recognize the symptoms of ADHD but younger readers get to follow along as Knox learns of his diagnosis and deals with how to define himself.

At the same time, Knox is dealing with sibling rivalry, missing his dad, and being one of only 2 Chinese students in his class as fear around the coronavirus ramps up. He comes up with a few charming and hare-brained schemes to bring his dad over from Hong Kong and learns to appreciate his family in a new way.

Yang does a great job of capturing the fear and uncertainty of those early weeks in 2020 when there was still so much that was unknown. She really shows a variety of ways that people react in fear and, I think, what it might be like to be a kid navigating a new world beyond your control.

One interesting choice she makes is that because Knox and his siblings are mixed-race, his older brother looks more Chinese than Knox and their little sister do. Bowen is the object of more overt racism than his siblings, something that the rest of the family is not initially aware of. I think this could be a great jumping off point for discussion with young kids about why people react to others the way they do and what is really behind racism.

Kelly Yang is definitely a writer to look for when looking for books for middle grade readers and New From Here is a great addition to any kid’s library in 2022.

When the Coronavirus is first detected, Knox and his family are living in Hong Kong. The family makes the difficult decision for Knox, his siblings, and his mom to move back to the United States, while his dad and dog stayed in Hong Kong. Knox and his family must learn to deal with the racism the beginning of the pandemic brings, while longing for their family to be together again. Knox and his siblings, Bowen and Lea, go to great lengths to reunite everyone, sometimes with disastrous consequences. However, they learn many important lessons along the way that speak to the strength of love, kindness, friendship and family.

Kelly Yang is a very talented middle grade author. New From Here is appealing and relatable to young readers, without being overly simplistic or patronizing. It is also an accurate portrayal of the beginning of the pandemic and reflects the general reactions and feelings to this historical event. (This novel could even be considered historical fiction!)

I highly recommend New From Here for children ages 8-12 and the libraries that serve them. (Adults will love it too!)

New From Here is a real, relatable and honest look at one family’s attempt to avoid the novel coronavirus by relocating to California. They are US citizens who have been living in Hong Kong and the story is inspired by the author’s own family’s experience.

Narrated by Knox Wei-Evans, the middle child who struggles with focus and impulsivity, New From Here addresses racism, family dynamics, navigating new schools, and all the emotions and stress of pandemic life. Kelly Yang includes details from 2019 and 2020 including the protests in Hong Kong, anti-Asian hate crimes, the killing of Breona Taylor and of course, the pandemic that continues to affect us.

Fans of Mia and the Front Desk series will love getting to know Knox and his siblings Bowen and Lea as they work together to navigate public school, reunite their family, redefine their sibling relationships and deal with some mix-ups and mis-steps along the way.

Author Kelly Yang shows so much care presenting these situations that we, as parents and teachers, wish we could prevent students from encountering. We can’t though - so a book is a great way to help kids who are in these situations feel seen, (and make others aware). My students will relate to this book! I love the examples of support from and of community, and the highlighting of empathy and support between different people of colour. The family is also interracial and the references to family members being treated differently based on their presumed race and family relationships being questioned rang true for me, (someone who experienced this as a child and still does as a mother). Thanks for including this - it is an important mirror for kids like mine.

Thank you to @simonschusterca and @netgalley for giving me access to an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This title was one of my most anticipated Middle Grade reads for 2022 - and I was so excited to get the email yesterday with access to this digital galley.

great book for middle school ids to learn more about the pandemic.
as someone who enjoyed kelly yang's "Front Desk", I was looking forward to this one, and my expectations were met.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an EArc of "New from Here" in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Simon & Schuster, for allowing me to read the ARC of New From Here in exchange for an honest review.
What a raw, honest book! I was filled with empathy and choked up several times, reading how this family who relocated to California from Hong Kong at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic and others around them had to deal with horrible racism and fear mongering. Both the children and the adults suffered through it horribly. I thought the story dealt with it and showed their struggles and triumphs in a wonderful, heartwarming way, which showed how strong the family was.
Very relatable. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of New From Here in exchange for an honest review!

While I still love reading middle-grade, New From Here definitely isn't targeted at me. This is a middle grade that I think is definitely more enjoyed by actual middle-grade level readers which is still wonderful! There's a real issue with us judging MG & YA as if they're meant for adults when they were never meant to be.

This is a well written, nuanced book at the COVID-19 pandemic from a realistically written child's perspective and I'm sure it'll work well both as an entertainment and education tool for children.

New From Here follows Knox Wei-Evans as he, his mom and siblings move back to America during the initial outbreak of the pandemic. When Knox and his family get to California a series of challenges await them. His mother must learn how to manage raising kids on her own, Knox, and his siblings must adjust to a new school, and overcome the racism that comes their way. With his parents split apart by the pandemic, his father back in Hong Kong and his mother in America the Wei-Evans kids take it upon themselves to reunite their family.

Kelly Yang writes with so much heart, and care. The author’s note alone nearly had me tearing up. As an Asian-Canadian I related to this book greatly. The hurt of knowing people will move if you sit next to them. Or refusing to help you because of how you look, and where you're from. It is difficult to write a book on a topic like COVID-19, but Kelly Yang wrote drawing inspiration from personal experiences as well as her families. This book shows the importance of showing love and kindness in the face of hard times. It showed how this pandemic greatly impacted the AAPI community. It demonstrates how the affects of racism not only hurts people, but also harms small businesses, and communities as a whole. I love how it discusses the mom’s experiences of being an immigrant in America as it shows both the good, and bad of moving to a new country for a better life. I think this book will be great for children to help them understand what happened in 2020, and to encourage others to show more empathy, and kindness. Maybe a child will see this book, and see themselves in this story too. This book comes out March 1st 2022, and I think it would be a great addition to a children’s library or even your own.

Thank you to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.