Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All by Chanel Miller - ADVISABLE

Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All by Chanel Miller, 145 pages. Philomel (Penguin), 2024. $18.

Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (mention of raging father and difficult parents)

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

9yo Magnolia lives with her parents in an apartment above the Laundromat they own in New York City.  Her life revolves around the Laundromat, especially in the summer when she's not at school. She collects the "lost socks" and pins them to a bulletin board, but when no one claims any of them, her new friend Iris suggests they become Sock Detectives and  try to return the socks themselves.

I loved the premise, but I didn't expect all the great lessons the girls learned about what happens when you get to know someone and the surprising and interesting things they don't share until you do. I loved the community created by a laundromat. Magnolia's parents are Chinese immigrants.

Lisa Librarian