Navigating Night, written by Julie Leung and illustrated by Angie Kang. anne schwartz books, Penguin Random House. 2026. $24.99 ages 7 and up

 

"A girl appears next to the man. 
She looks about my age. 
Her eyes are full of questions. 

I put the soda on the ground. 
When she gives me a little wave,
I look away. 
I wish the night would hide my face."

A young girl and her Baba are tasked with delivering takeout food from their Chinese restaurant to customers who have placed orders with them. It is a dark and rainy night. She is hungry, but the deliveries are most important. Her father drives, she navigates with a map and a notebook containing their destinations. She is ever helpful; with each delivery, the child helps her father with translation. Praise for being a good kid does not make her feel better. She would rather just be normal. 

While they go from house to house, she is aware that other families are home and together. She tells Baba that she does not want to go on deliveries anymore. Her baba asks for the next stop. The darkness outside and inside the car, inspires Baba to tell a story from his childhood when neighbors turned on one another and forced his family to flee to a safer and better life.

Although Baba was the youngest in his family, he knew that he could adapt and find his way in a new home. As they travel from house to house, he continues to share his memories. A delivery to a new customer has them lost, driving back and forth while worrying that the food is getting cold. They finally see an angry woman standing beside a mailbox that cannot be read. No wonder they had difficulty finding it.  

Baba continues to share his memories about the early days in a new home, and the difficulties he faced when he didn't understand the language.

"Before I had you,
I would get so lost, he says."

As the rain outside the van windows subsides and the moon rises into a less cloudy sky, the two finish their deliveries. The child guides them back to the restaurant where the family waits to share dinner together.

This moving family story is brilliantly told; the artwork, created using gouache, crayon, colored pencil, and pastel, offers a perfect backdrop for the emotions, memories, and shared deliveries the two make throughout the evening. Poignant and telling notes from both author and illustrator about its origins are much appreciated.