In October, I read the book New From Here by Kelly Yang. This is a story about a family with three kids named Bowen, Knox, and Lea. Their home in Hong Kong gets hit by a virus, who no one knew would eventually turn into a worldwide global pandemic. When the virus hits Hong Kong, his mother decides to make a last-minute move to California where she thinks they will be safe. But there is only one problem, their dad can’t come with them, since he has to stay behind to work. Knox Wei-Evans a ten-year-old boy with ADHD, manages his way through his challenges from dealing with siblings to online school. The family struggles to connect while separated thousands of miles apart. In California, the kids are starting at new schools and struggling to be the new kids while facing hate at the same time. They learn that during these tough times, love and kindness will always be the solution to their problems. Love and kindness are what the world needs, especially during this devastating time.

I enjoyed this book, as the mood was very clear and the emotions were well-written. The situation was also very real as the COVID-19 pandemic did happen these past years. Kelly Yang did a phenomenal job at really describing what the characters were feeling during different situations in the book. These characters went through many different emotions while being separated from their dad and the emotions were well described. I also really liked how she ended each chapter with a thought that kept the reader thinking about what was going to happen next. This made me never want to stop reading! Throughout the story, the characters showed change not only in personality wise but also in the way they approached different situations.

My favorite character is Knox. Knox is my favorite character because he always tried his best to help even though things didn’t always turn out how he thought they would. Sometimes Knox has ideas that work in his head but don’t turn out too well. I like that he always tries to help his family to the best of his abilities. One of his character traits is loyal. A quote that proves this character trait is on page 272, “‘Hey! That’s my brother!’ I interrupt. ‘Stop it!'” This character trait proves he is loyal because it shows that he will always stand up for Bowen and support him. Knox always stands by Bowen’s side during good and bad situations. Even when Bowen is feeling down, Knox tries to echo him and support him even in during times when Bowen doesn’t want it. This is why Knox is my favorite character.

My favorite quote from the book is, “Hand in hand, we walk up the hill in our face masks with our parents. Things might be completely unpredictable. One day, we might be in the middle of a pandemic. The next day, we might be swimming in toilet paper. But somehow, we’ll pull through it all as a family.” This is my favorite quote because it’s the ending of the story and when the family reunites after a long time being apart. This is when they were eating breakfast and they were sad because their dad already left for his flight back to Hong Kong. Then, their dad came back because he changed his mind and decided to stay in California. This quote shows that sometimes, you just need to keep persevering and keep going even when it’s rough because good things will happen over time. This ending made me happy because they were happy to reunite with their dad.