Vee in Between

May 15, 2023
In this personal-feeling debut, Kaiyang Wood—drawing from her own experience of transracial adoption—introduces a child protagonist coming to terms with her sense of self. Vee, who was adopted from China by white-presenting parents, sometimes wishes that she knew more about her birth mother. Her mom responds, “All you have to do is talk to the Moon... when your birth mother goes to sleep, she’ll hear you in her dreams.” On Vee’s first day of Chinese dance class, her teacher is encouraging, but Vee despairs when the other students prove more advanced: “Being adopted means I’m not as Chinese as the other kids!” Though Vee begins confiding her worries to the Moon, a incident with a stranger further amplifies the girl’s sense of otherness. With the help of her teacher, Vee gains perspective on who she is and on the feeling of “being in between.” Alongside emotive conversational prose, Poon’s figure-forward illustrations incorporate sky-related visuals. Ages 6–8.