Really cool story! I loved the characters and their design. The sparse use of color was super unique too. Definitely will appeal to younger kids who want to read manga.

This was a sweet partially-colored story about gentrification and fighting for your community in a way that young readers will easily grasp, understand, and relate to. Although a little far-fetched in instances, it fits in this fantastical community of humans and animals living together in what appears as an Animal Crossing-esque world

Noodle & Bao is a cute story about a family business being pushed out by gentrifying the neighborhood. The kids in the story try to push out a café that is taking business from their grandma's bao cart. What starts out as a feud, turns into inspiration and opportunity. Overall, this was a really cute story with great illustrations. I often found myself laughing at the antics while admiring the steadfastness of the main characters to preserve their culture and community. The only thing that I felt was unnecessary was the pronoun labels when a character was introduced. This could have been done in other subtle and normal feeling ways.

There is so much more to this book than I had expected!! Noodle & Bao isn't simply a story of a family and a community overcoming hardships amidst changes happening in their town; it's an easy-to-read lesson on gentrification and on China Towns and on the importance of traditions. I love how the author features the various foods and especially the ways that younger generations change the recipes up to modernize them - like the Cheeseburger Bao. I'd LOVE to eat a Cheeseburger Bao right now!!!
This is a really great book for middle grade students and I hope we'll start seeing it on lots of library and school shelves very soon!

I read a lot of middle-grade graphic novels, and Noodle & Bao feels quite different and fresh in a number of ways. The art style owes a lot to chibi manga, and the choice to populate Town 99 with a mix of humans and anthropomorphized animal characters adds another interesting facet. Add in LGBTQ+ characters and themes of gentrification, food, and family, and you've got something that's a lot of fun to read while also making you think! This would be interesting read alongside Sophie Escabesse's upcoming Taxi Ghost, which also tackles gentrification and the push and pull between grandparents and grandkids. Either or both would be great graphic novel book club picks for an elementary/middle grade audience.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

I wouldn't adopt the title as I teach orchestra, but I do think it was a good story with nice illustrations. I think the illustrations could be more colorful - I kept waiting for the book to be in more than just red and grayscale. Though the story was predictable, I liked the diverse characters and story line.

I adored this graphic novel. It portrayed the gentrification of a fantasy world Chinatown and the ways the community comes together to fight against it, based on real-life community organizing. The active inclusion of Traditional Chinese characters for Taiwanese Mandarin and written Cantonese with English translations beneath was a great way to highlight the varying dialects/preserve a realistic representation of Chinatown residents. (Can you tell I loved all the notes at the end?) I loved the back and forth between the younger and older generations, how each had legitimate points and missteps to make, and the way they navigated meeting each other to address the conflict. I also appreciated the queer friendly inclusiveness of titular character Bao using they/them pronouns.

I LOVED this book so much that I immediately pre-ordered it for my classroom. This is perfect for fans of Measuring Up and A Place at the Table. Even though this meant for middle grade students, this book tackles themes of food, community, immigration, and gentrification. The art is gorgeous, the depictions of food mouthwatering, and it's funny to see how like Animal Crossing, some of the characters are human and others are different animals-- including the main character's parents!

As an aside, I come from a similar background as the author and artist and I love how they captured the spirit of Chinatown in the graphic novel. The bilingual traditional Chinese/English dialogue in places touched my heart because the author explains the choices she made with using Cantonese and Mandarin that shows how rich and diverse their neighborhood community is. I already know that some of my students will be so excited to see their languages represented here.

I loved the children's commitment to help out the stand! I think this helped showcase how important food is, as well as the friends that become our family. As an adult reading this, it was a little weird trying to figure out the gene dynamics like how two pandas could have a little girl or how a fish could have a dog, but I dont think kids would even notice. It was fun!

I really loved the message of this book. The representation of the Chinatown-like neighborhood and how gentrification is harmful to residents is an extremely valuable lesson to teach and learn. The story itself dragged in parts but I loved how it integrated language and culture.

A heartwarming tale of a community's shared love and their experience with gentrification. Told in a perspective easily understood by all with the inclusion of different languages and beautiful illustrations. This is a wonderful graphic novel, particularly great for food lovers!

Look, this one wasn't for me. It felt saccharine. It didn't seem like there were any stakes, really. Which is fine for the target audience, but also, the book just kind of …happens.

I LOVED this book! Reading this story felt like eating a big homemade bao: you were left feeling warm and full. The art style was reminiscent of works like Sailor Moon or Studio Ghibli films, and the consistent color palette throughout elevated the experience of reading. I appreciated that the author created a bilingual experience for the reader by including Chinese characters in the speech bubbles along with English translations underneath.
I thought that the story handled the issue of gentrification well, and did a good job explaining it to a young audience. I also liked how the story handled the character of Miss Jujube: she reminded me of a lot of Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke, and how despite her villainous actions, she truly wants to create a better living experience for the citizens of Town 99.
Finally, I loved all of the food pictures and descriptions in the book. All of the culinary descriptions were spot-on, and I hope some young chefs will be inspired after reading this book.

This was a great middle grade novel about food, family, and community. I like that this was an allegory for what many urban Chinatowns face with aggressive gentrification. Also, the preservation of history and community through food.