cover image Red Thread Sisters

Red Thread Sisters

Carol Antoinette Peacock. Viking, $15.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-670-01386-9

The joy 11-year-old Zhang Wen feels over getting a family of her own through international adoption is dampened by her knowledge that her best friend, Shu Ling, will be left behind in a Chinese orphanage. After arriving in Massachusetts, Wen can’t stop worrying about Shu Ling, who has been deemed “unadoptable” due to her age and misshapen leg. Wen vows to find a home for her friend, but also fears being sent back to China for not being a “good enough” daughter. This quiet, intimate novel focuses on Wen’s difficult emotional journey, as she builds trust with her American family and tries to find a way to save her friend. Writing from personal experience as the mother of two adopted daughters, Peacock (who explored similar territory for younger readers in the picture book Mommy Far, Mommy Near) offers insight into the struggles of Asian children both awaiting adoption and assimilating into a new culture. Wen’s selflessness and determination are poignant but not overly sentimental, and the story’s harsh truths about children in need are sensitively expressed. Ages 8–12. Agent: Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary Agency. (Oct.)