Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
An epic new fantasy series inspired by Chinese mythology that #1 New York Times bestselling author Kwame Mbalia calls "a hilarious tussle between homework, family, and heroism." When a girl awakens the stuff of legends from an old family recipe, she must embrace her extraordinary heritage to save the world.
Winnie Zeng has two goals: survive her first year of middle school and outdo her stuck-up archnemesis, David Zuo. It won’t be easy, since, according to her older sister, middle school is the pits. Luckily, Winnie studied middle school survival tactics in comic books and anime, and nothing will stop her from being the very best student.
But none of Winnie’s research has prepared her to face the mother of all hurdles: evil spirits. When she makes mooncakes for a class bake sale, she awakens the stuff of legends from her grandmother’s old cookbook, spilling otherworldly chaos into her sleepy town.
Suddenly Winnie finds herself in a race against time, vanquishing demons instead of group projects. Armed with a magic cookbook and a talking white rabbit, she must embrace her new powers and legacy of her ancestors. Because if she doesn’t, her town—and rest of the world—may fall to chaos forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chinese American Winnie Zeng, 11, a rising sixth grader at her Groton, Mich., middle school, has much on her mind: as if making new friends wasn't difficult enough, her archnemesis David Zuo, who always bests her in Sunday Chinese school and piano, transfers to her school for "um, reasons," and their rivalry soon generates a bake sale bet. But when Winnie unearths a cookbook that belonged to Lao Lao, her deceased grandmother from Shanghai, and makes mooncakes, she accidentally summons Lao Lao's ghost, unlocking her own inherited shaman powers. To complete her training and join the Shaman Task Force, Winnie must defeat three spirits in succession, but the task seems less appealing when she discovers the other shaman in town. The narrative often relies upon well-trod Asian character tropes—the lunch-box moment, Winnie's characterization of the Zengs as an emotionless "robot family," and tropes relating to grades, money, and comparison—and pop cultural references are noticeably dated. Still, Zhao creates a fast-talking, quippy protagonist in Winnie, and the developing relationships and establishment of the shaman world allow room for deeper exploration in future installments. Back matter features recipes for mooncakes and red bean brownies. Ages 8–12.
