My Map of the World

What does a map really show? Roads and borders, cities and coastlines—or something more? For Jeffrey, the map begins at home. There is his family, a baby sister who is not quite the playmate he hoped for, and two cats who love snacks almost as much as they love him. Then there is his room. It may look ordinary, but it is full of possibilities: LEGO cities, wires and gears waiting to become robots, ink lines that turn into distant mountains, and a clarinet that turns dots on a page into music. Slowly, Jeffrey's map begins to grow. He builds games with friends that hundreds of players join. He plays second base and learns what it means to belong to a team. He joins a robotics team and discovers that rivals can also be builders who share tools, code, and ideas, all the way to the FRC Championship in Houston. He makes a guzheng at Wudang Mountain, cries over an onion in a Thai kitchen, collects gashapon in Japan, and spends a summer far from home in Boston, where a new friendship does not need many shared words. Then the journey travels through time. Reading The Canterbury Tales, Jeffrey imagines riding with medieval pilgrims and wonders what they ate along the way. That question follows him to Dunhuang, where he helps restore an ancient mural. Up close, he begins to notice bowls of food, musical instruments, flying figures, fading colors, and the hands of people who lived long ago. Written by teen author Yanning "Jeffrey" Liu, My Map of the World is a warm, gently humorous story about curiosity, community, and the surprising connections between music, art, food, and everyday life. The illustrations began as Jeffrey's own hand drawings and were finished with digital tools, so the book carries the personal touch of a young artist's sketchbook. This book is for young readers who love to build, draw, travel, or ask "what if?" It also suits families and classrooms exploring world cultures, art, and history, and readers of any age who believe a map can hold more than places. It holds people, memories, and stories too.