Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World is a fictional story about Amy Kramer’s first months in Taiwan. The sixth-grader has moved there with her family so her parents can begin missionary work, and she is eager to make some real Chinese friends. When the neighbor girls just giggle when she tries to greet them in her halting Mandarin, she turns instead to her “peanut butter” friends at the Taichung American School – American or international kids who are more like her. When she tries to be kind to the class outcast, though, she finds herself shunned even at school and has to make some hard choices and remind herself of what she came to Taiwan for in the first place.
Reading level: age 9 to 12 years
Farah is the new kid in her classroom and she can’t speak or understand much English yet. Everything is new and she seems so different from the other kids. Even though her parents encourage her that this move will be good in the end, she misses her old home. On a field trip, she starts to see ways that the sounds here in the new place are similar to ones back home and she takes the first steps towards making friends and learning English.
This book would be great for TCKs learning a new language or going to a new school for the first time. Though it seems more aimed at immigrant families than TCKs there is a lot of overlap.
Reading level: age 5 to 9 years
This excellent book for children has sections (5 chapters each) about preparing to move; moving; exploring the new culture; settling in; dealing with “the realities”; and moving on. In each chapter expat kids, ages 8-13, share their own experiences, then the author answers common questions & closes with a “Real Life Tip.” “The Kids’ Guide to Living Abroad” is relevant for elementary/primary students and above.
Kids and parents can read each chapter as it becomes relevant rather than all at once and sections can be skipped if they don’t apply. A lot of ground is covered!
Reading level: age 8 to 12 years
This is a story about a girl starting school at an International School overseas (“Detinu” is “United” spelled backwards). A typical book about starting a new school, but with a TCK twist – the new classmates are from all over the world. Sydney is nervous to start 3rd grade but by the end of the day she has the beginnings of new friendships and is optimistic about the coming year.
Reading level: age 7 to 10 years
This collection of short poems tells the story of a Chinese American brother and sister moving away from their home and extended family in San Francisco. Their grandmother gives them each a memory box to fill with tiny treasures as they make the journey to their new home. This melancholy book could help kids in the midst of a move and inspire them to savor memories and say goodbye well.
“For their move far away, Gracie and Jake are sad to leave
the golden bridge,
the trolley tracks,
and Nai Nai.
“But they fill empty boxes with treasures—
a marble, a snake,
a pair of wings.
Tiny reminders of all they love—
so happiness stays close,
no matter where they go.”
Reading level: age 5 to 8 years
Baby bat, Stellaluna, is separated from her mother and raised in a nest of baby birds. She adjusts to their ways but never quite fits until she meets fellow bats & finds she’s “normal.” Her adopted bird siblings can’t do what she can, but although they are both different and the same, they stay connected. Though not a TCK book, it could have applications for expat kids, growing up between two different ways of life.
Reading level: age 4 to 7 years
