This series of novels for ages 8-12 features Anna Mei Anderson, who has to leave her friends behind when her family moves from Massachusetts to Michigan. Because her first name sounds like the word "anime," the kids at her new school call her "Cartoon Girl." But nothing's funny about the problems Anna Mei faces, trying to fit into this new life. Will things ever feel normal again?

A synopsis of each title appears here. For much more about this series, visit my Anna Mei site.

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Anna Mei, Cartoon Girl

Ages 8-12
Pauline Kids (2010)
Cover art by Wayne Alfano

Book Trailer
Reviews




The first book in the series is a story for anyone who has ever worried about fitting in. Eleven-year-old Anna Mei Anderson is not only the new kid at school, she's the new kid who has a weird name, an adoptive family she doesn't remotely resemble, and an unknown birth mother somewhere back in China. She decides she'd better get busy changing into someone a little less...unusual. It may not be exactly honest but it seems a lot safer.

But soon Anna Mei is paying a high price for her deception. Then a school project about family heritage brings things to a head—what does "heritage" even mean to someone like her, who's not even sure where she came from? The answers only come when she stops long enough to listen to her own voice, and the voices of the people who've cared about her all along.

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Anna Mei, Escape Artist

Ages 8-12
Pauline Kids (March 2011)
Cover art by Wayne Alfano

Book Trailer





With sixth-grade graduation behind her, it's time for Anna Mei to spend her first summer in Michigan. Her plans include visits to the science museum and nature center, a week at volleyball camp, and plenty of time to just hang out. Not in the plan? All the hurdles that threaten to ruin her summer, including the ones that challenge her relationship with both family and friends.

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Anna Mei, Blessing in Disguise

Ages 8-12
Pauline Kids (September 2011)
Cover art by Wayne Alfano

Seventh grade means another new school for Anna Mei. Only this time she's not the new kid—this time she has things all figured out. Then another family moves into town, including a boy that Anna Mei seems to bump into at every turn. Suddenly things don't seem so clear anymore, and Anna Mei's feelings about her own identity and Chinese heritage—feelings she thought had been settled—just won't stay buried.