Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend (Winnie Zeng #1)

Chinese American Winnie Zeng, 11, a rising sixth grader at her Groton, Mich., middle school, has much on her mind: as if making new friends wasn’t difficult enough, her archnemesis David Zuo, who always bests her in Sunday Chinese school and piano, transfers to her school for “um, reasons,” and their rivalry soon generates a bake sale bet. But when Winnie unearths a cookbook that belonged to Lao Lao, her deceased grandmother from Shanghai, and makes mooncakes, she accidentally summons Lao Lao’s ghost, unlocking her own inherited shaman powers. To complete her training and join the Shaman Task Force, Winnie must defeat three spirits in succession, but the task seems less appealing when she discovers the other shaman in town. The narrative often relies upon well-trod Asian character tropes—the lunch-box moment, Winnie’s characterization of the Zengs as an emotionless “robot family,” and tropes relating to grades, money, and comparison—and pop cultural references are noticeably dated. Still, Zhao creates a fast-talking, quippy protagonist in Winnie, and the developing relationships and establishment of the shaman world allow room for deeper exploration in future installments. Back matter features recipes for mooncakes and red bean brownies. Ages 8–12. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative Management. (Apr.)