Anna Wang is about to start third grade, and her family just moved into a new house. She's nervous about the new school, a new teacher, and making new friends. Her Chinese immigrant parents are very caring, but her father works hard and her mother still struggles with her English. 

Anna's mother helps an elderly couple clean their home. Anna goes along and develops a friendship with Mrs. Shepherd. She was an avid gardener when she was younger, and she wants to pass that on to Anna, so she gifts Anna with some seeds to get her started as well as a copy of her favorite book from childhood, The Secret Garden. 

With the inspiration from The Secret Garden and Mrs. Sheherd and with help from her new friend from up the street, Laura, Anna is determined to create a backyard garden that will offer up food for their table, inspiration for her schoolwork, a project for her and Laura's friendship, and healing for the Shepherds. It's a tall order, but Anna's determined to make it happen, and her young spirit will not be stopped. 

I am such a big fan of Andrea Cheng's Anna Wang books! They are beautifully gentle and wise, smart and sweet and honest. This one is a prequel to her first book in the series, The Year of the Book, and it's just as lovely as the other four books in the series. Read them all, gift them to all your elementary school reader friends, and encourage them to follow their hearts and stay true to themselves. 

Sadly, we lost author Andrea Cheng in 2015, so this will probably be the end to this lovely series. It's a sad ending for us readers, but her legacy will live on through these books and the characters, and that is a beautiful gift to us all. 

Galleys for The Year of the Garden were supplied by the publisher through NetGalley,com.