This book is the beautiful and emotional story of Mei, a girl living in Wuhan, China during the initial outbreak of Covid-19. She and her friends work in an emergency kitchen to provide meals to frontline workers and those who are too old or sick to cook for their families. Each time Mei finishes a recipe, she shares it with the reader, which is a fun addition to the story.

Content warnings: death of a parent, death from Covid-19, car crash,

Morning Sun in Wuhan is one of the most thrilling book I ever read. I love reading about Mei’s kindness and how she created a volunteer group to help the neighborhoods and donated freshly cooked food to the people. Truly a tale about kindness, love, and community! Maybe I should try one of those recipies?

A love of cooking is what is getting 13 year old Mei through her days, with her mother dead and her father working long hours at the hospital. Often alone, she spends most of her time either practing her skills on a cooking video game or making real dishes in the kitchen. Which is what she continues to do as her city of Wuhan begins to shut down; her father warns her not to leave without a mask and doesn't come home anymore from his shifts. Slowly the city goes on lockdown as the COVID-19 pandemic starts, with Mei having to navigate what she can do to help while keeping herself safe. Interspersed with recipes for the dishes she makes in the novel, Morning Sun in Wuhan celebrates the culture and people of Wuhan against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Ying Compestine was born in Wuhan and her love of her city is clear throughout the Morning Sun in Wuhan. With the character of Mei grounding the plot the reader fully sees Wuhan and its people beyond being the COVID-19 epicenter. While living through an extraordinary and frightening situation, Mei is also a normal teenager who gets sad about her mom, misses her friends, and dreams of exceling at the video game Chop Chop. From her window and through her phone she gets glimpses of what is happening, from the orchestrated grocery deliveries to a neighbor's body being taken out.

The pandemic may be the setting but it is not what the novel is about. From her window she realized there was a need, that there were some people who didn't know how or were unable to cook for themselves. Unable to take action by herself Mei learns to rely on her community as well as give back to it, setting up a neighborhood chat with cooking instructions and asking her aunt if she could vounteer with her. Mei does not go out and save the day; instead she figures out how she can help, then works with others to do a small but meaningful part.

Morning Sun in Wuhan is a beautifully written story of a young girl learning how to be a member of her community and the importance of it, even in the most frightening times.

An expertly craft middle grade novel set at the very beginning of the covid19 pandemic in Wuhan, this story is all heart and carries a just right blend of tragedy and relief. This portrait of a community coming together in the face of something truly terrible is so timely and necessary. Right on target for middle grade readers with its blend of big world issues and the fun of a cooking video game!

Morning Sun in Wuhan
Weaving in the tastes and sounds of the historic city, Wuhan’s comforting and distinctive cuisine comes to life as the reader follows 13-year-old Mei who, through her love for cooking, makes a difference in her community. Written by an award-winning author originally from Wuhan. 

A fascinating read, taking us directly to the centre of life in Wuhan when the pandemic started. We follow Mei who whilst still grieving her mother is also dealing with her father, a doctor, working nonstop in the local hospital as cases of the new virus increase daily.
Mei is desperate to help and through her love of cooking volunteers with her Aunt in a local kitchen, cooking and delivering hot food to those who are too sick, or infirm to cook for themselves.
A really well told tale and I recommend not just for the 8+ targeted age range, I think it’s perfect reading for adults too.
The book also includes some delicious recipes that I will 100% be trying!
Thank you to Netgalley and ClarionBks for my early copy. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This ARC is one I have been waiting on for a while now to grace my screen and I finally got access to it. I am usually one for historical fiction aimed at Adults but this book is a more modern historical fiction focused towards high school-aged kids. If you can't guess from the title, this is a book based on the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic when it all kicked off in the city of Wuhan in China.
The story follows Mei, a schoolgirl from Wuhan whose father works as a respiratory specialist and her mother died the previous year. The story begins as the cases start to rise in the city before anyone really knows what the Coronavirus is and ends at the Chinese New Year celebrations in 2021 when the city of Wuhan seemed to be over the worse of it.
Before I get into what I thought about the book from the "modern historical fiction" perspective, I want to talk about one of my little favourite parts of this book that is linked to the story but not explicitly needed to aid the story and that is the recipes. After most of the chapters where Mei cooks a meal for herself or as part of the meal-preparation scheme the local community is doing, there is a full ingredient list and recipe that the reader can follow. The reason I love this is that it introduces people to new cuisine that they might not have heard of and allows them to find out how to make it as well.
Back to the main content of the book which is the look into life in this very recent, and in some areas still ongoing, historical context. This is a period in "history" that everyone knows about because we have been living through it for the past 2 years. I would recommend reading it for this reason as it shows a slightly different side to the pandemic, the side of the story where it all began which is one rarely told and even more rarely told by the people who experienced it. While this book isn't written by someone who was there, it is written by someone who is originally from Wuhan and got a collection of first-hand accounts from her family who are still over there.

This is a middle-grade book set in the city of Wuhan at the start of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The story follows a young girl, Mei, as she experiences the emergence of Covid-19 and the difficulties of quarantine while her father works as a doctor at a nearby hospital, battling the virus. Although Mei worries about her father, she is able to channel her anxieties into honing her cooking, both through working at a volunteer kitchen and by playing an online competitive cooking game with her friends. I really liked how this book covered the emergence and response to Covid-19 in the city where it all started out, and from the perspective of a young girl. I thought it was interesting to compare how Wuhan's society reacted to needing to quarantine and mask up, and how even Mei herself doubts the virus's severity at first. The book did a good job of showing how quickly misinformation and panic can spread when discussing the virus, but how ultimately, working together could help to tackle the difficulties that the virus brought up. I loved seeing how Mei grew as a cook and used her cooking skills to help others, and that the book included recipes and a cooking guide for any aspiring chefs who read the book and wanted to try their hand at making some of Mei's dishes. Overall, I thought this was a really good book that tackled a difficult but (unfortunately) still current topic for readers, but adapted it to make it honest but optimistic for younger readers.

Morning Sun in Wuhan is such an important book. It will provide readers with an honest look at what life was like for those first affected by the pandemic. It shows the importance and prevalence of communities rallying together throughout the tumultuous time. Mei's perspective is relatable and so meaningful.

Set in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic at its epicenter, Morning Sun in Wuhan tells the story of Mei, a young girl more interested in video games and cooking than school, who is still processing grief over the loss of her mother. As the rhythm of everyday life is disrupted by the growing crisis unfolding around her, Mei begins to notice the challenges facing her community and discovers the inner strength to respond to them. This fictional account, inspired by real life stories, introduces young readers to the early days of the global pandemic that eventually impacted all of our lives through the eyes and emotions of a relatable main character.

Readers with a preference for titles that conform to narrow genre expectations may find themselves disappointed, but those who appreciate creative approaches to storytelling will be delighted by the many windows into Chinese culture this book offers readers. Beginning each chapter with a proverb, occasionally ending chapters with a recipe, and weaving in references to other cultural touchstones does not distract from the story, but instead provokes further curiosity in readers which serve to reinforce the narrative. Parents, teachers, and librarians will appreciate the many opportunities for engagement with young readers this title offers.

Morning Sun in Wuhan will help readers build empathy with the everyday people who were first impacted by the pandemic. With this novel Ying Compestine has written a wonderful tribute to her hometown and the resilience of its people; I sincerely hope many readers of all ages have the opportunity to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for making an advance copy of this book available for review.

A big thank-you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for giving me a copy of this book for an unbiased review.

2.5/5 - Liked it.

This story is fascinating in that it allows the reader to access a voice not often heard in Western literature - that of a young girl living in Wuhan at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mei's story is touching and interesting, and it deals with complex topics such as the loss of a parent, grief, and the importance of standing up to our fears in order to best support our communities. The story is peppered with Chinese recipes that I'm very excited to try out.

The reason I did not rate this book higher is because I had a hard time connecting to Mei and understanding who she was outside of her community role in the pandemic. She is passionate about cooking and video games, but it was difficult for me to grasp who she was beyond this. I would have appreciated more flashbacks to time spent with her mother - for example, if they had shared a love of cooking.

That being said, I think this is an important and interesting story. I hope to see more books for adults and children alike coming out of Wuhan or other areas deeply impacted by COVID to better understand how this pandemic influenced our lives globally.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A children's novel about Covid 19, I read the story with my daughter. Mei's bravery and determination was both heart- breaking and inspiring. I loved all the food references and the recipes given in the story. Thank you for this beautiful story set place in ground zero.

I really wanted to read this book because of its setting in Wuhan at the start of the pandemic - I think many people have a natural curiosity about this period. I was also intrigued as to how this might translate into middle grade fiction.

Mei is the daughter of a talented Doctor working in a hospital in Wuhan, her Mother, also a doctor, has died tragically. Mei isn’t academic but she is absolutely passionate about cooking and an electronic game about cooking which she plays with her friends. Increasingly as a mystery virus takes hold Mei sees less and less of her Father and she is desperate to find a way to help.

This book is full of cooking references, cooking, cooking in the electronic game and includes several pages of recipes. I think a love of food and cooking would definitely be a factor in a child enjoying this title. It might also be a way of getting a child interested in cooking. I did have a few anxieties about Mei being left at home cooking on her own and having access to the knife collection!

The story at the heart of a city being overwhelmed by a virus and that of a girl and her friends making a difference is heartwarming and a unique record of a particular moment in time. The author writes at length about the inspiration for her book which came from real life events.

I think middle graders will find Mei an appealing character with her determination to do her own thing and to take life into her own hands..Just be aware that there is a lot of cooking!


With grateful thanks to Netgalley and Clarion Books for a digital copy of this book.

This book's combination of recent tragedy and recipes was surprising, but something I think middle grade readers will really appreciate. I have a lot of students that age asking for cooking books, and cooking is something that brings Mei peace during this time. A lot of readers will worry for Mei, relate to her video game interest, and be interested to see what it was like to be a kid in Wuhan when people started getting sick from COVID. While there are certainly parts that are sad or worrisome, I think readers will also find comfort in the fact that there were people helping and finding ways to get involved from the beginning of the pandemic. I really appreciated how the author handled the topics and think it will be a very empathetic read for kids.

Following her mother’s death, Mei lives with her doctor father in Wuhan. She loves cooking and playing a cooking video game with her friends. At the start of the coronavirus epidemic she finds herself alone in their apartment as her father spends more and more time at the hospital. As the city goes into lockdown she wonders what she and her friends can do to help their neighbours.

The author obviously loves cooking as there is a lot of cooking information in the book, including recipes you could try yourself. I thought it was too focused on cooking and got a bit bored of the constant references to food. However, it provided a glimpse into the initial panic and fear that was prevalent at the start of the pandemic.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well it was especially difficult to read this two years into the pandemic with numbers surging but it was SO interesting!

Morning Sun in Wuhan
by Ying Compestine
Pub Date 10 May 2022 |
Clarion Books (formerly HMH Children's Books), Clarion Books
Children's Fiction





I am reviewing a copy of Morning Sun in Wuhan through Clarion Books and Netgalley:




Morning Sun in Wuhan tells the story of what the Pandemic of the century was like at the very beginning.



Written by an award winning author originally from Wuhan, Morning Sun In Wuhan weaves in the tastes and sounds of the historic city, Wuhan’s comforting and distinctive cuisine comes to life as the reader follows 13-year-old Mei who, through her love for cooking, makes a difference in her community.




Thirteen year old Mei was grieving the death of her Mother and was an outcast at school. She finds solace in her computer games as well as cooking.
When her friend’s grandmother falls ill, Mei seeks out her father, a doctor, for help, and discovers the hospital is overcrowded. As the virus spreads, Mei finds herself alone in a locked-down city trying to find a way to help.



The author Ying Chang Compestine draws on her experiences growing up in Wuhan to illustrate that the darkest times can bring out the best in people, friendship can give one courage in frightening times, and most importantly, young people can make an impact on the world.



I give Growing Up in Wuhan five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

This quick read told a couple of good stories. I really loved the addition of the recipes cooked in the story. I can't wait to try some of them out.

Unfortunately, I think that book suffers a bit from its mode of telling. The writing style seems geared a bit to a younger audience than the story is. I think my 10 year old would enjoy this story, but he would never pick it up. If it were a graphic novel he might read it and I think the book would really benefit from that format. As it is, the book is shorter than the novels he would normally read.

I mentioned that there are a couple of good stories being told. Given the reading level of the writing, I think the book could have easily been divided into two separate picture books for a younger audience. One story about a kid separated from her parents, in isolation, who's only real connection to the outside world is through the videogame she plays. Another story about a kid who loves to cook and finds an opportunity to use her skills to help others during lockdown. As it was, this book is sort of both too long and too short.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

Defies an age group! This book is a non-stop read for all ages! It's a ground zero account of the beginning of the coronavirus told through Mei, a 12-13 year old girl who lives in Wuhan. I have always enjoyed reading about plagues and pandemics, and now having experienced one, I was wondering when fiction books would begin to appear to read about other people's experiences during these trying and difficult times. I didn't have to wait too long, as books began to appear, but not ones I was looking for until this one arrived! Just heart stopping in intensity. Young Mei is one resourceful girl. This book is sure to entrance many different age groups, as the story is now a universal one for us all. Ying Compestine had written a very compelling account of what happened in Wuhan. I wonder if she was there, or knew of others who were? I am not sure I will ever attempt the recipes at the end of every couple chapters (food plays a very important role in this story), but budding cooks will enjoy making them , as will older cooks who want to try something new as they read the story.
Well told tale, it should be be on everyone's shelf!