Only One Year

Review
By Allison at Oops... Wrong Cookie

The book then chronicles the year Di Di is gone and the first few months of his return to the United States. At first, Sharon and Mary miss him terribly, but slowly they return to their regular activities, like playing school and building a dollhouse. Cheng doesn’t tell us this. Rather, in lovely and sparse prose, she shows us….Only One Year is an important contribution to children’s literature, as it is about a topic that I haven’t seen explored much, if at all. But it is also one of the most tightly written novels for young readers I’ve read in a long time, and could be a Newbery contender. The wonderful illustrations are placed at just the right moments, like when the family is hand-crafting Di Di’s bed right before his return. So much happens in this little and memorable book. —Oops… Wrong Cookie