Becoming Boba, written by Joanna Ho and illustrated by Amber Ren, portrays Milk Tea Town, a charming town full of milk teas come to life. In Milk Tea Town, things stay like they always have been. That is, until Mindy, a multi-colored milk tea baby shakes things up. As Mindy grows up, she becomes colorful, different than all the other milky brown residents. Other young milk teas are also different. Some of them are different colors and some have different shaped straws. The elders in Milk Tea Town cannot stand these youth who are breaking tradition! The younger generation dedicates themselves to learning about their histories and connecting to their elders. What they find out shocks them while bringing the town closer together.
In this delectable picture book, Joanna Ho teaches young readers through a charming boba tea story that our differences are what make communities strong. I love that with Ren’s cute drawings of different boba tea varieties kids will have fun learning a valuable lesson. This story also teaches readers the importance of connecting to our communities. There are different ways to do this such as: talking to elders, learning our histories, and attending culture classes. An added bonus at the end of the book is an illustrated history of milk tea and boba in the real world. This book is sure to spark conversations about community connections as well as what is the best boba flavors.
Elinor Serumgard is a poet, artist, and book reviewer from Issaquah, WA. Elinor graduated from Western Washington University in 2022 with a degree in Creative Writing. For more of their work, please see elinorserumgard.com
