By Kao Kalia Yang
Illustrated by Jen Shin
University of Minnesota Press, 2026
36 pages
978-1-5179-0797-6
Ages 5-10
“On a plot of grass off Maryland Avenue … on the east side of St. Paul, there was once a blue house that I loved.” The narrator, a Hmong refugee, describes in loving the detail the old house’s layout and the family members who lived there as she recounts childhood memories big and small. Her observations immerse the reader in life in the blue house: The spiky, frozen hair of her boy cousins, who slept on the three-season porch, even in winter; the living room furniture, donated by churches and covered in bedsheets, where the kids ate meals; the “jars upon jars” of mustard greens pickled by her mother and aunt; the blare of Thai and Chinese music from her girl cousins’ portable stereo. The back porch was the narrator’s “favorite spot,” a place where she first saw her aunt breastfeed her cousin, where she got into her first physical fight, and where she and her cousins welcomed Uncle home after his gallstone surgery. Though the family has dispersed and the house no longer stands, the plot of land still inspires memories of a vibrant childhood, drawing the narrator closer to her family members when she passes by. Accompanying illustrations offer varied perspectives of the house and its lively inhabitants, including layouts, cutaways, and exterior and interior views. ©2026 Cooperative Children’s Book Center