Try free for 30 days
-
The Many Meanings of Meilan
- Narrated by: Annie Q
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $26.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also picked
-
Last Gate of the Emperor
- By: Kwame Mbalia, Prince Joel Makonnen
- Narrated by: Prince Araya Mengesha
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime - a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family...and his only friends. Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented-reality game The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.
-
The Islanders
- The Islanders
- By: Mary Alice Monroe, Angela May
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary - no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
-
Maya and the Robot
- By: Eve L. Ewing
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maya's nervous about fifth grade. She tries to keep calm by reminding herself she knows what to expect. But then she learns that this year won't be anything like the last. For the first time since kindergarten, her best friends Jada and MJ are placed in a different class without her, and introverted Maya has trouble making new friends. She tries to put on a brave face since they are in fifth grade now, but Maya is nervous! Just when too much seems to be changing, she finds a robot named Ralph in the back of Mr. Mac's convenience store closet.
-
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
- By: Lisa Yee
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has.
-
Watercress
- By: Andrea Wang
- Narrated by: Sunny Lu
- Length: 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
- By: Kaela Rivera
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas - humans who capture and control criaturas - consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime. When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back.
-
Last Gate of the Emperor
- By: Kwame Mbalia, Prince Joel Makonnen
- Narrated by: Prince Araya Mengesha
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime - a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family...and his only friends. Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented-reality game The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears.
-
The Islanders
- The Islanders
- By: Mary Alice Monroe, Angela May
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary - no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games...and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
-
Maya and the Robot
- By: Eve L. Ewing
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maya's nervous about fifth grade. She tries to keep calm by reminding herself she knows what to expect. But then she learns that this year won't be anything like the last. For the first time since kindergarten, her best friends Jada and MJ are placed in a different class without her, and introverted Maya has trouble making new friends. She tries to put on a brave face since they are in fifth grade now, but Maya is nervous! Just when too much seems to be changing, she finds a robot named Ralph in the back of Mr. Mac's convenience store closet.
-
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
- By: Lisa Yee
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries. But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has.
-
Watercress
- By: Andrea Wang
- Narrated by: Sunny Lu
- Length: 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
- By: Kaela Rivera
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous, especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits roam the desert and threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, only brujas - humans who capture and control criaturas - consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime. When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, Cece is determined to bring Juana back.
Publisher's Summary
“The little girl I was would have been thrilled to encounter Meilan...having found a character who embraces the complexity of being both Chinese and American, I would have been able to echo her words: 'I am not alone.'” (New York Times Book Review by Jean Kwok)
A family feud before the start of seventh grade propels Meilan from Boston's Chinatown to rural Ohio, where she must tap into her inner strength and sense of justice to make a new place for herself in this resonant debut.
Meilan Hua's world is made up of a few key ingredients: her family's beloved matriarch, Nai Nai; the bakery her parents, aunts, and uncles own and run in Boston's Chinatown; and her favorite Chinese fairy tales.
After Nai Nai passes, the family has a falling-out that sends Meilan, her parents, and her grieving grandfather on the road in search of a new home. They take a winding path across the country before landing in Redbud, Ohio. Everything in Redbud is the opposite of Chinatown, and Meilan's not quite sure who she is - being renamed at school only makes it worse. She decides she is many Meilans, each inspired by a different Chinese character with the same pronunciation as her name. Sometimes she is Mist, cooling and invisible; other times, she's Basket, carrying her parents' hopes and dreams and her guilt of not living up to them; and occasionally she is bright Blue, the way she feels around her new friend Logan. Meilan keeps her facets separate until an injustice at school shows her the power of bringing her many selves together.
The Many Meanings of Meilan, written in stunning prose by Newberry Honor-winning Andrea Wang, is an exploration of all the things it's possible to grieve, the injustices large and small that make us rage, and the peace that's unlocked when we learn to find home within ourselves.
Critic Reviews
Today Show Read with Jenna feature
New York Times Best Children’s Books of 2021
2021 New York Public Library Best Books
2021 School Library Journal Best Books
2021 Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature Best Books
"Wang’s middle grade debut is a vibrant exploration of family and identity.... Meilan’s story should be on library shelves everywhere." (School Library Journal, starred review)
“The little girl I was would have been thrilled to encounter Meilan and her many names in a book...and having found a character who embraces the complexity of being both Chinese and American, I would have been able to echo her words: 'I am not alone.'” (New York Times Book Review by Jean Kwok)
"Wang’s resonant middle-grade debut features stunning prose and a fierce protagonist.... Meilan’s journey to reclaiming her identity and finding her inner strength is remarkably compelling and relatable." (Booklist, starred review)