New from Here

Lai sees, or red packets, are not being passed out on the street for Chinese New Year like normal. People around Hong Kong cover their faces, and Knox and Bowen use paper towels and rubber bands as makeshift masks, and they use toothpicks to press the elevator buttons of their apartment building. Strangers speak Cantonese to Bowen more than they do to Knox, because Bowen looks like he is of Chinese descent, and Knox looks more like their father.

Most people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, but Julie is from Beijing, so the family speaks Mandarin. When the boys get back from playing outside, their mother tells them to use hand sanitizer, to shower, and to “put the toilet seat down before [they] flush” because the virus can be transmitted via feces (9). They discuss going to the US, and Julie insists that things will not get as bad in the US, because the US has the world’s best healthcare system. Lao Lao, Knox’s grandmother, plans to stay in her apartment until the outbreak ends. Doctors in Hong Kong are considering going on strike because they worry cases will come over from China if the border is not closed. 

People in Hong Kong look down on who they call mainlanders, and the family discusses where they fit in. Knox’s mother and grandparents were born in China, but they are American citizens. Knox’s parents grew up in the United States but moved to Asia to be closer to Knox’s grandparents and for work. They also are Chinese, but Julie warns her children not to speak Mandarin if they are taken to the hospital.

Andrew is on a conference call when Knox sneaks into the room and appears purposefully on the screen, making everybody laugh. Andrew is not happy, and Knox wishes that he had a stop sign in his head that told him when what he was doing was not funny. The two discuss China, and Andrew says that it is both important to protect people and also to avoid discriminating against people. His father assures him that it is only in hospitals that they should not speak Mandarin to protect them from mistreatment by healthcare providers. When Knox asks if they are hated by people in Hong Kong, his father says that it is more complicated than that and that people in Hong Kong want autonomy.

A homemade bomb has been detonated at the local hospital, and Julie and Andrew decide that she and the kids must go to the US because there is no hospital to treat them should they get sick. They will stay enrolled in their schools in Hong Kong and complete their coursework virtually. Andrew says that they “have to do what’s best for the family” (19). Lea is worried because she planned on having a big birthday party with her friends, but she is reassured because her birthday is not until April. Knox does not want to leave without Andrew, but says he will join them as soon as he is able.

Julie gives the kids many rules about the airplane and reminds them to say that they “are coming home” and that they have not had any contact with anyone from the mainland (22).

As they prepare to leave, Andrew gives Julie last minute reminders about the kids’ preferences. Knox is upset about leaving his father, and he tells Andrew not to die. The family cries as Julie warns them against tears because they could ruin the masks.

People on the plane wear masks, including some wearing gas masks. The family hears a man on his phone talking gleefully about getting tickets, and Knox thinks “[h]e makes it sound like we just boarded a lifeboat off the Titanic. Is this what this is…a lifeboat taking us to America?” (33). When they arrive at the airport in San Francisco, Bowen thinks they are safe and can take off their masks, but Julie tells him that they still have to get “into the country.” An immigration officer asks them if they have been to mainland China, and Knox works hard to avoid talking while Julie handles the details. They are allowed into the US as the officer welcomes them home.

They get into an Uber to take them to their grandmother’s American home. When Julie tells the driver that they are coming from Hong Kong, the driver gets worried about the virus and leaves them in a Walgreens parking lot, afraid that are carrying the virus.

The family must take public transportation home, and everyone stays away from them. They finally make it to their grandmother’s house, and Knox, Bowen, and Lea want to go out to eat, but Julie thinks they should voluntarily quarantine, so they order Uber Eats.

Julie tells Knox that he sounds privileged as he complains about having to share a small room with his brother. For remote learning, Bowen and Lea are allowed to do their work in their room, but Knox must do his near his mother so she can make sure that he is staying on task. Julie tries to order face masks, but they are out of stock.

It is the beginning of February, and the kids hate online school because it is hard to keep up with the schedule. Julie must move between her children to help them as needed. She is about to help Knox with a haiku when she is pulled away for work. Knox’s poem states:

I want to learn

From a human, not a box.

Because a human cares,

And a box stares (45).

Knox and Julie take a break and go out to the garage where Knox sees pictures of his ancestors wearing masks in 1918. Julie tells Knox that the pandemic will not last long, but he wonders why they are looking for face masks if she thinks that is true. They FaceTime Andrew, who tells them that people coming from the mainland to Hong Kong will be quarantined. Bowen asks his mom why they cannot just “read and do some Khan Academy,” and when Julie responds that “there’s a lot more to going to school than that” (50), Bowen reminds her that they are not doing any of that extra stuff. Julie plans to enroll them in American schools.

Knox is upset about the possibility of school in the US, but Julie tells him that he can possibly play on an after-school soccer team and that it does not mean that they will be in the US forever. She wants him to give the US a chance, and he agrees to school, because he would prefer to learn from an actual teacher. When Knox cannot sleep that night, he goes downstairs and hears Julie speaking to someone from work saying that she cannot go to Shanghai for a client, because she would have a difficult time getting back to the US. Julie starts crying at the end of the call, and Knox goes to comfort her.

The family’s self-imposed quarantine is over after 14 days, but more people have died in China already than of the number of those who died from the SARS epidemic. A person has died in Hong Kong as cases rise there, and Knox wants his father to come to the US. Andrew must stay where he is for his job, as he believes he is lucky to have work.

Aunt Jackie calls, and the family decides to have dinner at her house. Mom does not feel comfortable going out to eat in public.

The family plans to assemble Knox’s IKEA dresser before going to Jackie’s house. Julie warns them to be careful because, at the moment, they have no health insurance. She tells Lea that she made friends when she came to the US as a child, and that American schools do not give as much homework as schools in China. Bowen gets frustrated building the furniture and when Julie says he may take a class like woodworking at school, he refuses, saying he would rather take classes like economics. He is concerned with classes that will look good on college applications, but Julie tells him that this is not all that is important. When Lea realizes that she has no more clean underwear, the family goes into the laundry room where everything is piled up.

The family must wash underwear by hand and blow dry it to get to Jackie’s, and Bowen sets a phone reminder to do laundry himself. Julie explains the process to Bowen, and Knox and Lea agree to each play a part. Aunt Jackie lives in a nice neighborhood, and the house is tidier than the Wei-Evans home. Aunt Jackie shows them a website that ranks schools, and she says that she would not consider any school with a ranking of seven or below.

Julie apologizes when they leave Jackie’s house about the state of their home and tells them that she is doing the best that she can. That night, Julie tells the them that she lost her job. She reassures them that they will be fine, and Knox says they can return his dresser.

Bowen decides to give Knox some of his dresser drawers. Bowen tells Knox that their family does not have a savings account and that, at $3,000, a flight to the US for their father is out of the question.