Are You Nobody Too?

New Yorker Emily Sofer reluctantly attends a new middle school in Chinatown, where her white adoptive parents hope she can connect with her Chinese heritage. The change has separated Emily from her existing friends, though, and the tween has been feeling increasingly isolated. At school, she avoids the Five, a group of girls who “just seem happier” than Emily does, and who exacerbate her feelings of not belonging—feelings that worsen when she realizes that most of her classmates have Chinese parents. But she soon takes an avid interest in her English class, finds comfort in Emily Dickinson’s poetry, and befriends Grace, a member of the Five, after discovering that they have similar extended family dynamics. As her classmates express excitement about the upcoming Lunar New Year, however—an excitement that Emily doesn’t share—she fears that she will always be on the outside looking in on everyone else’s lives. Introspective first-person verse skillfully depicts Emily’s conflicting emotions, which feel palpable as she grapples with the social nuances of each new experience. Cane (Alma Presses Play) additionally explores Emily’s shifting relationships with her family members alongside perceptive meditations on the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on elderly individuals and those of Chinese ancestry. Ages 10–up. (Aug.)