''I Am Golden'' is a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The ima ...

by Eva Chen and illustrated by Sophie Diao. It tells the story of Mei, the daughter of Chinese immigrants to New York, who is shown to be a bridge connecting her parents to their new home. The book was published on February 1, 2022, by

Feiwel & Friends Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

. This is the first time Chen and Diao, both daughters to Chinese immigrants, collaborated, with their book releasing at number 8 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called Chen's story a "richly metaphoric celebration of

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

identity". In their

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

, they also praised Diao's illustrations, noting it has "recognizably Chinese cues" which enriches the story of immigration and adaptation being told. Writing for ''

The Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...

'', Van McGary called it a "gorgeous picture book" that "exudes joy and celebration of identity". McGary praises the Diao's "rich tones and golden hues", as well as Chen's "lyrical writing", and expounds on the book's themes of

self-love Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour-propre, conceitedness, ...

and identity. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' gave ''I Am Golden'' a starred review and praised the story and its morals. They commented on the

second-person narrative Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, which "adds intimacy to the lyrical text" and called the book a "shining affirmation of Chinese American identity."{{cite web , title=I Am Golden , url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/eva-chen/i-am-golden/ , website=

, access-date=March 3, 2022

References

2022 children's books American picture books Books about immigration to the United States Children's books about race and ethnicity Feiwel & Friends books Children's books about immigration