When a girl’s parents spot watercress growing at the side of an Ohio road, they pull over the family car and show her and her brother how to gather it. Wading through cold and muddy ditch water, the girl ducks when a car passes, hoping it’s no one she knows. That night watercress “glistening with garlicky oil and freckled with sesame seeds” is served for dinner, but she refuses to eat it, wishing for grocery story vegetables. Her mother, who doesn’t often speak about her life in China, talks about her own little brother, and how they ate anything available during the famine but he still didn’t survive. Thinking of the uncle she never knew, the girl takes “a bite of the watercress and it bites me back with its spicy, peppery taste.” Exceptional writing combines keen descriptions with an understated tone as it connects this Chinese American family’s past and present, with the earlier tragedy providing a path to compassion and understanding for the young narrator that extends to their current lives. The watercolor illustrations capture the emotions of individual characters and collective family tension, while clearly delineating their lives in the United States from her mother’s childhood in China. (Ages 6-9)

Caldecott Medal Winner
Newbery Honor Book
APALA Award Winner

A story about the power of sharing memories—including the painful ones—and the way our heritage stays with and shapes us, even when we don’t see it.


New England Book Award Winner
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book

While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can.

At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family just get food from the grocery store, like everyone else? But when her mother shares a bittersweet story of her family history in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged—and the memories left behind in pursuit of a new life.

Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

Author Andrea Wang calls this moving, autobiographical story “both an apology and a love letter to my parents.” It’s a bittersweet, delicate look at how sharing the difficult parts of our histories can create powerful new moments of family history, and help connect us to our roots.

Jason Chin’s illustrations move between China and the American Midwest and were created with a mixture of traditional Chinese brushes and western media. The dreamy, nostalgic color palette brings this beautiful story to life.

An endnote from the author describes her personal connection to the story, and an illustrator’s note touches on both the process of the painting, and the emotional meaning brought to the work.

New England Book Award Winner
A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
Winner of the Cybils Award
An SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner
A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
An ALSC Notable Children's Book
Named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, BookPage, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness , and more!
A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
An NPR 'Book We Love!'
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!