Review: "Born Naughty" by Jin Wang

Born Naughty by Jin Wang with Tony Johnston, illustrated by Anisi Baigude
Published May 2024 via Anne Schwartz Books
★★★

I'm forever curious about places I haven't been, so I was eager to pick up this memoir of growing up in inner Mongolia (an autonomous region of China).

With the title being what it is, I admit that I was sort of hoping for a modern-day My Naughty Little Sister—a little scamp constantly in low-key trouble. That isn't the case here; Wang describes occasional disobedience, sure, but really just normal curious-kid things. What's more striking to me is how much I am reminded of the Little House books, both in style of telling and in some of the challenges Wang and her family faced in their tiny, remote village. Getting water was a constant chore; the popcorn man or the photographer coming to the village was a great source of excitement; clothing was precious and difficult to replace. More than a century and half a world apart, and yet.

Born Naughty is marketed for "young middle grade readers", and I'd suggest heeding that "young" designation; Wang is about 8 throughout the book, and I'd guess the reading level to be closer to elementary school than middle school. Would be great to see this expanded into a series, as I expect she has quite a lot more stories saved up, and they probably got even more complicated when she and her family eventually left their village.