The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Khor, Shing Yin. The Legend of Auntie Po. Penguin Random House LLC, 2021.

Shing Yin Khor's graphic novel The Legend of Auntie Po is written from the main character Mei's first person point of view. The novel combines images and text in order to tell Mei's story living in a Sierra Nevada logging camp in 1885.

Mei lives and works at a California logging camp with her father, Hao, and her friends. She and Hao try to keep up their Chinese traditions while performing their responsibilities at the camp. Because Hao is the head cook, Mei often helps him in the camp kitchen. She is known for her pies. All of the workers praise her baking abilities.

Mei is best friends with the camp manager Mister Hels Andersen's daughter, Bee. Mei and Bee have grown up together. Bee loves Mei, and especially encourages her to tell her stories. The girls often sit with their friends around the fire. Mei tells the children imaginary tales about a tall logger named Auntie Po, and her giant, blue buffalo Pei Pei.

When Bee's brother Pauly teases and criticizes Mei, Mei feels hurt. She runs into the woods. Bee finds her and tells her not to listen to Pauly. Bee starts inventing imaginary futures for them. Mei appreciates Bee's kindness, but knows that because she is Chinese American and Bee is white, they have different opportunities.

Hao and Hels have also been friends for many years. However, when tensions between white and Chinese workers begin arising in town, Hels fires Hao. He tells his friend he is afraid the white workers will burn the camp if he continues employing Chinese laborers. Though Hao is upset, he agrees to move to Chinatown and leave Mei at the camp with the Andersens.

Mei is hurt and sad without her father. She does not feel that Hels made the right choice. Then one night, all of the workers ask Mei to start cooking for them. The cook who replaced Hao makes food they cannot eat. Mei agrees. Then the men riot, demanding that Hels bring Hao back or they will not work.

Hels meets with Hao. Hao agrees to return.

In the spring, the loggers run a log drive. They transport the logs from the camp to the mill on the river. When a log jam occurs, Hels and Pauly decide to use dynamite to unblock it. After the explosion, Pauly is missing. Mei tells the children Auntie Po stories to comfort them during the tragedy.

Three days later, the men find Pauly's body. They bury him near the water.

Mei comforts her sad friend. She tells Bee about the ways she and her father communicate with their deceased ancestors. Then Mei, Hao, and the Chinese workers host a funeral ceremony for Pauly's family. They build a paper saw mill and light it on fire in order to communicate with Pauly in the afterlife.

In February, the camp celebrates the Chinese New Year together. Mei and Hao pass on their traditions to their friends. After dinner, Hels takes Hao outside to talk. He says he will be starting a new mill in San Francisco the following year, and wants Hao and Mei to come. Hao agrees, excited that Mei will be able to attend school in the city.

Bee then tells Mei she is moving to Wisconsin to live with family and attend school. The friends are thankful for their friendship, and promise to keep in touch. Mei realizes that she has a new future ahead of her, and is excited to start a new story.