Connie Pan is a writer from Maui, Hawai‘i. She holds an MFA in fiction from West Virginia University and a BA in creative writing from Grand Valley State University. Her words have appeared Bamboo Ridge, The Billfold, Carve, HelloGiggles, and Salamander, among other places. An excerpt from her novel-in-progress was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She loves noodles, soup, noodle soup, the Pacific, flowers, and the moon. A Tailored Book Recommendations bibliologist and a former indie bookseller, she currently lives in Texas with her family.
Lately, the level of whimsy I crave stretches to unmeasurable lengths. Whenever I long for comfort, I seek my tried and trues: beloved soups, oversized sweatshirts, favorite rom-coms, and go-to rereads. Once I finished this sweet gift of a debut middle grade novel, I restarted the library’s audiobook immediately. It’s that good. Soon after, I visited the bookstore, scanning for a copy, because I needed it on my shelf.
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All by Chanel Miller
On the verge of 10, 9-year-old Magnolia Wu lives in New York City. Her family runs a laundromat, where patrons can indulge in lychee Popsicles and red bean ice cream as they await their clothing. Magnolia spends her summer days there because, with the exception of her dog, Mister Pants, she has zero companions. When her mother arranges a playdate with Iris, who recently moved from Santa Cruz, Magnolia—having lost a pal to the “grass” of the suburbs and after a disappointing playdate involving a funereal ant farm—feels skeptical. However, while Magnolia and Iris envelop themselves in sheets they imagine are cocoons, or chrysalises (depending on who you ask), “Magnolia looked at this blinking person sealed in a sheet and decided they were going to be very good friends.”
At Iris’s suggestion, the two embark on investigations of every missing sock pinned to Bing Qi Ling Bubbles’ bulletin board. From a checkered sock to a plain dust-slathered one, this follows the new buddies, who both share names with majestic flowers, outside. Instead of seeing whether sock owners return and remaining “content being an observer,” Magnolia springs into action. Instead of being overwhelmed by cockroaches and pigeons and millions of people, Iris explores her new home.
With every sock delivered, Magnolia and Iris learn something surprisingly endearing about a laundromat regular: a secret passion, a hidden jealousy. And amid the search for sock owners, the twosome also learn more about others in the community, especially Magnolia’s parents, like Mr. Wu’s expert advice for healing plants and Mrs. Wu’s favorite beverage that inspired her English name. A compassionate moment in particular I adored: A coconut-scented sock leads the sleuths to the bodega for the help of a professional who stocks the establishment with the neighborhood’s wants sans judgement. Ali “knew customers who bought canned soup to bathe in, an artist who bought jars to collect his tears whenever he cried at the beauty of a sunset, a girl who got bottle caps for the knobs of her time machine, and a bus driver who bought lottery tickets every year on his iguana’s birthday.”
Featuring delightful black-and-white artwork from Miller, I reach for my sticky-flagged hardcover often to marvel over the illustrations. They range from page-sized pieces of Magnolia, the “NYC Sock Detective,” and Iris, the “official sock shielder,” traversing the Big Apple to smaller drawings. An empty peanut butter jar fashioned into a pen holder, an electric high five, egg tarts, basil growing in a former container of cottage cheese, an “uncrumpled” note on a napkin, boba, and other wonders adorn text edges in all their charming glory.
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If you yearn for a feel-good novel combined with an immersive mystery, turn to this heartwarming story delving into adventure, friendship, humanity, intuition, and loneliness. And something to look forward to: The author of Know My Name has another middle grade book, The Moon Without Stars, forthcoming!
For previous book recommendations, peruse our Read This Book archives.
English (US) · 