If only I could remember WHAT recommended me this treasure. Travel? Journal? Pictures?! Some of my favorite topics complied in equally as enticing yellow cover. (But you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!) Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg met in Morocco while study abroad with their respective colleges. They fell in love, and made the distance work. Upon their graduations, they had only one plan in mind: Travel. Scieszka ‘s words and Weinberg’s illustrations weave a cohesive story about their post-graduate travel through Asia, Indonesia, and Africa.
At no point does the text disintegrate into a fairy tale, where all of Casey and Steven’s plans fall perfectly into place and they face no hardships. I read on-edge when they experienced identification problems in Mali, but devoured their descriptions of the local cuisine and cultural commentary. I particularly enjoyed reading about the first leg of their trip teaching Chinese schoolchildren English. I definitely empathized for Casey and Steven as they developed lesson plans and tried to connect two cultures by one language. They rise to every challenge they face though, as visitors and as young adults.
My friend Michael is studying Asian Studies at Temple University- Japan campus, and loves it. He is constantly nagging me to visit him in Japan “one of these days”. Of course Japan and China are different, but the travel-bug persists.
Thumbs: 2 out of 2! (and a stomach)
Cassidy B. Charles 