Waiting for May
Kindergarten-Grade 4–Based on the author's personal experiences, this story portrays a family's long wait to travel to China to meet their new baby girl. A loving older-brother-to-be describes his anticipation and impatience as he yearns for his sister, emotions that are akin to the longing many families feel when awaiting an infant. However, the smoothly flowing text also imparts a surprising amount of information about requirements unique to international adoptions, mentioning the documents, interviews, and fingerprints necessary to "make sure that she is going to a good family" and even referring to China's one-child policy. Stoeke deftly handles a sensitive topic when Mom says, "I think it must be awfully hard for those mothers," and the boy thinks, "I think it must be hardest for the babies." When they finally meet May, he is dismayed that his new sister clings to her caretaker and cries continually despite his family's attempts to comfort her. In the satisfying ending, the child becomes intrigued by one of her new brother's turtle buttons and relaxes into a hug with him. The colorful paintings enhance the narrative and capture the various emotions of the characters. As charming as Eve Bunting'sJin Woo(Clarion, 2001) and Linda Walvoord Girard'sWe Adopted You, Benjamin Koo(Whitman, 1989),Waiting for Maymakes an excellent addition to all collections.–Deborah Vose, Highlands Elementary School, Braintree, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.