In Andrea Cheng's The Year of the Fortune Cookie, the main character's teacher introduces the class to the George Ella Lyon poem "Where I'm From". The third in a series of books about Anna Wang, the story is a delightful mix of her adjustment to a new school, her continued learning of Chinese, and her desire to help others. Centered around all those things is the trip to China she will take with her former teacher and her husband when they adopt their daughter from China. As she contemplates the words of the poem, lines flow from her mind to express where she is from.
Never one to believe in the fortunes wrapped inside cookies, I must admit to liking how the author integrated fortunes in this book. There is even a recipe at the end that looks tempting to try.
When I see readers in a few weeks, this will be one new book to recommend! For the full text of the poem (a great writing prompt for readers), go to http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html.
I am from the comfortable chair where words from the pages swirl in my brain.
Yes, I see you being from the comortable chair where words from the pages swirl~ wherever you are! This book sounds great. I am a fan of fortune cookies...I understand they are a Chinese-American tradition, originating here?
ReplyDeleteThat is correct, Rita, and the author points it out in the text. Fortune cookies are an American thing.
ReplyDelete"Where I'm From" is a theme I tried to have my creative writing students respond to, but can't recall where I got the idea. Now I"ll have go google the source you mentioned to see if that's the form we used.
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