Mei Mei
By Leanne K. Currie-McGhee • Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu
Amanda felt as gray as the sky outside when she looked across the table at her little sister. Li sat on a booster seat, drinking from her sippy cup.
"Mom, why does Li hate me?"
"Honey, she doesn't hate you. Li is still getting used to you," Mom said. "It's only been two weeks."
"Want a bite?"
"But look." Amanda took a cookie off her plate and held it out to Li. "Want a bite?"
As soon as Li saw Amanda reaching over, her eyes widened. Li scooted down from her seat and raced to her room.
"See?" Amanda said to Mom. "I thought being a big sister would be fun."
Over a year ago, Amanda's parents said that they were adopting a daughter from China, and Amanda had danced with excitement. She'd dreamed of taking her sister to the park, reading books to her, and teaching her to ride a tricycle. That hadn't happened. In the weeks since their trip to China, Li had only let their mom and dad near her.
"She runs away whenever I get close." Amanda's shoulders drooped.
Mom took Amanda's hand. "Think of how scary it is for her. She's in a new country with a new family."
"I just wish I knew how to help her," Amanda said, thinking of Li's frightened eyes.
Amanda went into the family room and plopped onto the couch. How could she help Li? She'd read to her, drawn pictures for her, and made funny faces. None of that had worked.
Amanda twirled her hair and flicked on the TV. She stopped to watch a cartoon about a dog and a cat. After a few seconds, Amanda realized that the cartoon was in another language. The show looked funny, but she didn't understand any of it. She frowned, turning off the TV. It reminded Amanda of when they were in China. She had gotten frustrated when people talked in Mandarin, the language spoken in Li's province.
That's it. Amanda sped to her room. After rummaging through her closet, she found what she was looking for.
She tiptoed to Li's room. Peeking in, Amanda saw Li curled in a ball on her butterfly quilt, sucking her thumb.
Amanda tapped on the open door.
Li scooted to the back of her bed.
"Ni hao," Amanda whispered, hoping she had pronounced it right. Ni hao meant hello in Mandarin.
Li didn't answer, but she didn't scream, either.
Amanda crossed the room to Li's pink CD player. "Do you like music?"
Li sucked her thumb, staring at Amanda.
Amanda slid the CD into the player. Voices of children filled the room.
Li leaned forward.
"Yi, er, san," sang the voices on the tape.
"In English, that means one, two, three," Amanda said. She didn't look at Li, afraid that Li would start crying. When she didn't hear any sobs, Amanda glanced over at the bed. Li was smiling.
"Yi, er, san!" sang Li, clapping her hands.
A few songs later, Amanda's mom came to the door holding a basket of laundry. Amanda and Li were side by side.
"I found the CDs Aunt Linda gave me last year to help me learn some Mandarin," Amanda explained. "I thought that Li might know these songs."
"This song is about families."
"What a great idea," Mom said. "Do you know what this song means?"
Amanda nodded, smiling wide. "This one is about families."
"Jie jie," Li said, pointing at Amanda.
Amanda felt her throat tighten. "That means big sister." She smiled at Li. "And you're my mei mei."
