Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All: (A Newbery Honor Book)

by Chanel Miller Narrated by Chanel Miller

Overview

A Newbery Honor book and instant New York Times, USA Today, and indie bestseller!

Award-winning author and artist Chanel Miller tells a fun, funny, and poignant story of friendship and community starring Magnolia Wu, a ten-year-old sock detective bent on returning all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents' NYC laundromat.

Down at the bottom of the tall buildings of New York City, Magnolia Wu sits inside her parents' laundromat. She has pinned every lost sock from the laundromat onto a bulletin board in hopes that customers will return to retrieve them. But no one seems to have noticed. In fact, barely anyone has noticed Magnolia at all.

What she doesn't know is that this is about to be her most exciting summer yet. When Iris, a new friend from California arrives, they set off across the city to solve the mystery of each missing sock, asking questions in subways and delis and plant stores and pizzerias, meeting people and uncovering the unimaginable.

With each new encounter, Magnolia learns that when you're bold enough to head into the unknown, things start falling into place.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All:

TODAY Show Read with Jenna Jr. selection ♦ Good Housekeeping Best Kids’ Book Award winner ♦ National Summer Book Award winner ♦ A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year ♦ The Week Junior Best Adventure Book of the Year & book club title ♦ Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of the Year ♦ ALSC Notable Children’s Book ♦ Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee ♦ New York Times for Kids pick ♦ NPR Books We Love ♦ People magazine summer reading pick ♦ Junior Library Guild selection ♦ Indie Next List pick

“Absolute middle grade perfection . . . This book is a celebration of the quiet courage and daily bonds that make us a community!” –Kelly Yang, award-winning author of Front Desk

“I loved this deeply real yet wondrous tale about how the little things in life turn out to be the big things.” –Abby Hanlon, author of Dory Fantasmagory

* "Thoughtful, creative, and compassionate . . . Miller’s pitch-perfect narrative voice balances humor and whimsy with harsher realities. Magnolia isn’t insulated from negative feelings; rather, her world is one where strength can be quiet, empathy can be learned, and community is critical. Wildly funny, charming, and deeply heartfelt." –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Miller (Know My Name, for adults) crafts an endearing romp in which Magnolia makes her first ride-or-die friend and learns to appreciate her life in new ways." –Publishers Weekly

“Miller’s fresh and honest storytelling approach and her endearing characters are spot-on for early middle grade readers confronting the highs and lows of friendship, racial tension, and the trials of growing up.” —The Horn Book Magazine

"A thoroughly original take on seeing your immigrant parents anew through the lens of others." —NPR

The Horn Book Magazine

“Miller’s fresh and honest storytelling approach, and her endearing characters, are spot-on for early-middle-grade readers confronting the highs and lows of friendship, racial tension, and the trials of growing up.

author of Dory Fantasmagory Abby Hanlon

“I loved this deeply real yet wondrous tale about how the little things in life turn out to be the big things.

NPR

"A thoroughly original take on seeing your immigrant parents anew through the lens of others.

award-winning author of Front Desk Kelly Yang

Absolute middle grade perfection . . . This book is a celebration of the quiet courage and daily bonds that make us a community!

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2024-02-17
Miller, author of the award-winning memoir Know My Name (2019), makes her middle-grade debut with the story of a Chinese American girl working to reunite the lost socks of New York City with their owners.

Inventive but lonely Magnolia Wu, 10, is resigned to a summer stuck at her parents’ laundromat, but her fortunes change when she meets Iris Lam, a Vietnamese American girl who’s just moved to New York. In Iris, Magnolia finds a kindred spirit who’s game to share lychee Popsicles, play at making cocoons out of sheets, and give cockroaches silly names to make them less scary. It’s Iris who notices the collection of partnerless socks in the laundromat and decides that the two of them should track down their rightful owners. Each sock mystery takes them somewhere new as they meet the queen of crossword puzzles, a girl who stars in ice cream commercials, and a pancake chef with a passion for knitting. Thoughtful, creative, and compassionate, Magnolia and Iris are an enchanting pair. Miller’s pitch-perfect narrative voice balances humor and whimsy with harsher realities. While both girls struggle when they and their immigrant parents encounter racism, they’re buoyed by a cast of kind supporting characters as they process their emotions. Magnolia isn’t insulated from negative feelings; rather, her world is one where strength can be quiet, empathy can be learned, and community is critical. Final art not seen.

Wildly funny, charming, and deeply heartfelt. (author’s note) (Fiction. 7-11)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940159296269
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

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