HOW MY FAMILY LIVES IN AMERICA
by Susan Kuklin & photographed by Susan Kuklin
A multicultural consciousness-raiser in which three children, each with at least one parent who did not grow up in the US, describe some of their adapted family customs. Food is a common theme: Sanu's African father invites friends over for a special meal of tiebou dienn, eaten on the floor from a common bowl, and ``while we eat, we hear stories about our parents when they were little in Senegal and in Baltimore''; Eric enjoys baseball, the merengue, and especially arroz con pollo y habichuelas with his Puerto Rican family; Taiwanese Chin Lan (``My name in America is April'') has cold sesame noodles, tsu ma liang mein, in school, and takeout pizza for dinner. The young narrators, speaking in an easy, unforced way, invite readers to see them both as individuals and as proud members of ethnic groups, but not, ultimately, as so different from children anywhere. The practices they describe are a well-chosen blend of the exotic and the mundane, enhanced many lively, natural-looking color photos. Recipes at the end (except for the pizza). (Nonfiction. 7-10)