A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Young, Ed. 1989. LON PO PO: A RED-RIDING HOOD STORY FROM CHINA. Ill. by Ed Young. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0698113829
B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a Chinese version of the fairy-tale, Little Red Riding Hood. Three sisters are left along and the wolf comes calling disguised as Po Po. The story shows how the sisters regain control after the wolf gets into the house.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Ed Young retells the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood using dark, hazy illustrations to enhance the mood throughout the story. In this version, three sisters, Shang, Tao, and Paotze are left alone for the night while their mother visits their grandmother. That action allows the story to occur. The old wolf saw an opportunity and took it. The youngest two sisters are fooled by the wolf and that is how he gets into the house. The bed scene resembles the other version of this story, but in this story the quick-thinking oldest sister outsmarts the wolf. Resourceful Shang gets all of them out of the reach of the wolf by tempting him with gingko nuts. Young gives the girls childlike reactions along with problem solving skills. The dialogue is direct in this story.
The illustrations, also done by Young, enhance the text by creating a mood of darkness and fear. The illustrations are a combination of water color and pastels with smoky indistinct shapes. The focus is on the eyes of both the girls and the wolf. The vagueness of the illustrations adds to the allusion of fear.
Both the text and illustrations contain cultural markers. The illustrations are divided into panels of one to two per page. The names of the characters are another cultural marker. The gingko nut that is used to tempt the wolf is a food found in Asia.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book starred (February, 1990)
Young has given his fine retelling of this Red-Riding Hood variant the look of old Chinese decorative panels. The illustrations throb with the mystery and terror of the wolf and the round-eyed fright of the children. Review, p. 79.
Kirkus Review starred (1989)
This compelling tale, translated from a "collection of Chinese folktales," may be the finest book yet from this excellent illustrator--and is certainly among the most beautiful books this year. Three little girls are left alone while their mother, after warning them to keep the door well latched, goes to visit their grandmother (Po Po) for the night. Under cover of darkness, the wily wolf disguises himself as Po Po, prevails on the younger children to let him in, and blows out the candle. But when he doesn't feel like Po Po, the eldest, Shang, contrives to see his hairy face; then she devises a clever plan to trick the wolf and save them all. Another suspenseful version of this tale appeared in Yep's The Rainbow People (p. 774/C-138). Young's graceful translation is both mellower and nobler in tone, while the story is still satisfyingly frightening as the children contend in the dark with the invader. Young's dramatic illustrations, in watercolor and pastel, appear in vertical panels--one or two per page--with some double-spread vistas extending across two or three panels, a device he uses effectively in his wonderfully harmonious designs. The story's terror is both mitigated and enhanced by the artist's suggestive, soft-edged style: there's none of Hollywood's ghoulish precision, but plenty of the mists and shadows where creatures of the imagination thrive--highlighted by the sisters' expressive eyes. A symphony of lovely color progresses from page to page, always related yet fascinating in its variety and contrasts. Even Young's eloquent dedication--"To all the wolves, of the world for lending their good name as a tangible symbol for our darkness"--is perfect. Absolutely splendid.
School Library Journal (December 1989)
Gr 1-5-- A gripping variation on Red Riding Hood that involves three little sisters who outsmart the wolf ( lon or long in Cantonese) who has gained entry to their home under the false pretense of being their maternal grandmother ( Po Po ). The clever animal blows out the candle before the children can see him , and is actually in bed with them when they start asking the traditional ``Why, Grandma!'' questions. The eldest realizes the truth and tricks the wolf into letting them go outside to pick gingko nuts , and then lures him to his doom. The text possesses that matter-of-fact veracity that characterizes the best fairy tales. The watercolor and pastel pictures are remarkable: mystically beautiful in their depiction of the Chinese countryside, menacing in the exchanges with the wolf, and positively chilling in the scenes inside the house. Overall, this is an outstanding achievement that will be pored over again and again.--John Philbrook, San Francisco Pub . Lib .
School Library Journal (November 1998)
Gr 1-5-With forceful impressionistic paintings, Young artfully entices readers across the fairy-tale threshold into a story of three girls' fearless battle of wits with a famished wolf. (Dec. 1989)
E. CONNECTIONS
Children could compare different version of Little Red Riding Hood, choosing their favorite parts from each story and telling why they like it best.
Other versions of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD:
Ernst, Lisa Campbell. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD: A NEWFANGLED PRAIRIE TALE. ISBN 0689821913
Hyman, Trina Schart. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. ISBN 0823404706
Pinkney, Jerry. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. ISBN 0316013552
Friday, November 14, 2008
GRANDFATHER'S JOURNEY
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1993. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395570352
B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is the story of a man’s journey through life and between two countries, Japan, and America, as told by his grandson. The story tells of his live and travels and how he yearns for the other country when he is not there.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Allen Say creates a book not about a struggle with a conflict to solve but rather a telling of experiences that happened throughout this grandfather’s life. Using both text and illustrations Say creates a vision of life’s wonder and endless opportunity as well as harsh realities. He chronicles the life of a man by including major life events. The text is simple and direct without extra details. The book pares down his life to show the really important things. The book is a photo album with captions.
The illustrations are snapshots of his grandfather’s life and travels. They portray vivid images of his life’s travels.
Cultural markers exist throughout the book. At the beginning, Japan is named as his grandfather’s home. There is comparison of the rivers and mountains of both America and Japan. Songbirds remind him of Japan. There is reference to the bombs falling on Japan and how nothing was left.
The illustrations enhance the cultural impact of this book. Different modes of dress are represented as well as various hairstyles and body types. The changes in the dress and hairstyles reflect the passing of time. The man appears in Japanese clothes at the beginning and ending of this book making a visual statement of life’s circle.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book starred (March, 1994)
Say's grandfather travels throughout North America as a young man but, unable to forget his homeland, returns to Japan with his family, where the author is born. Say now lives in California and returns to his native land from time to time. "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other. I think I know my grandfather now." The immigrant experience has rarely been so poignantly evoked as it is in this direct, lyrical narrative, accompanied by soft-toned watercolors.
Kirkus Review starred (1993)
"The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other," observes Say near the end of this poignant account of three generations of his family's moves between Japan and the US. Say's grandfather came here as a young man, married, and lived in San Francisco until his daughter was "nearly grown" before returning to Japan; his treasured plan to visit the US once again was delayed, forever as it turned out, by WW II. Say's American-born mother married in Japan (cf. Tree of Cranes, 1991), while he, born in Yokohama, came here at 16. In lucid, graceful language, he chronicles these passages, reflecting his love of both countries--plus the expatriate's ever-present longing for home--in both simple text and exquisitely composed watercolors: scenes of his grandfather discovering his new country and returning with new appreciation to the old, and pensive portraits recalling family photos, including two evoking the war and its aftermath. Lovely, quiet--with a tenderness and warmth new to this fine illustrator's work.
Publishers Weekly (August 16, 1993)
Say transcends the achievements of his Tree of Cranes and A River Dream with this breathtaking picture book, at once a very personal tribute to his grandfather and a distillation of universally shared emotions. Elegantly honed text accompanies large, formally composed paintings to convey Say's family history; the sepia tones and delicately faded colors of the art suggest a much-cherished and carefully preserved family album. A portrait of Say's grandfather opens the book, showing him in traditional Japanese dress, ``a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world.'' Crossing the Pacific on a steamship, he arrives in North America and explores the land by train, by riverboat and on foot. One especially arresting, light-washed painting presents Grandfather in shirtsleeves, vest and tie, holding his suit jacket under his arm as he gazes over a prairie: ``The endless farm fields reminded him of the ocean he had crossed.'' Grandfather discovers that ``the more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places,'' but he nevertheless returns home to marry his childhood sweetheart. He brings her to California, where their daughter is born, but her youth reminds him inexorably of his own, and when she is nearly grown, he takes the family back to Japan. The restlessness endures: the daughter cannot be at home in a Japanese village; he himself cannot forget California. Although war shatters Grandfather's hopes to revisit his second land, years later Say repeats the journey: ``I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own.'' The internal struggle of his grandfather also continues within Say, who writes that he, too, misses the places of his childhood and periodically returns to them. The tranquility of the art and the powerfully controlled prose underscore the profundity of Say's themes, investing the final line with an abiding, aching pathos: ``The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.'' Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
School Library Journal (September 1998)
Gr 3 Up-A personal history of three generations of the author's family that points out the emotions that are common to the immigrant experience. Splendid, photoreal watercolors have the look of formal family portraits or candid snapshots, all set against idyllic landscapes in Japan and in the U.S. (Sept., 1993)
E. CONNECTIONS
Young readers can draw and tell of a place they miss when they are not there.
Other books by Allen Say:
Say, Allen. THE BICYCLE MAN. ISBN 0395322543
Say, Allen. THE LOST LAKE. ISBN 0395630363
Say, Allen. A RIVER DREAM. ISBN 0295482941
Say, Allen. 1993. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395570352
B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is the story of a man’s journey through life and between two countries, Japan, and America, as told by his grandson. The story tells of his live and travels and how he yearns for the other country when he is not there.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Allen Say creates a book not about a struggle with a conflict to solve but rather a telling of experiences that happened throughout this grandfather’s life. Using both text and illustrations Say creates a vision of life’s wonder and endless opportunity as well as harsh realities. He chronicles the life of a man by including major life events. The text is simple and direct without extra details. The book pares down his life to show the really important things. The book is a photo album with captions.
The illustrations are snapshots of his grandfather’s life and travels. They portray vivid images of his life’s travels.
Cultural markers exist throughout the book. At the beginning, Japan is named as his grandfather’s home. There is comparison of the rivers and mountains of both America and Japan. Songbirds remind him of Japan. There is reference to the bombs falling on Japan and how nothing was left.
The illustrations enhance the cultural impact of this book. Different modes of dress are represented as well as various hairstyles and body types. The changes in the dress and hairstyles reflect the passing of time. The man appears in Japanese clothes at the beginning and ending of this book making a visual statement of life’s circle.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book starred (March, 1994)
Say's grandfather travels throughout North America as a young man but, unable to forget his homeland, returns to Japan with his family, where the author is born. Say now lives in California and returns to his native land from time to time. "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other. I think I know my grandfather now." The immigrant experience has rarely been so poignantly evoked as it is in this direct, lyrical narrative, accompanied by soft-toned watercolors.
Kirkus Review starred (1993)
"The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other," observes Say near the end of this poignant account of three generations of his family's moves between Japan and the US. Say's grandfather came here as a young man, married, and lived in San Francisco until his daughter was "nearly grown" before returning to Japan; his treasured plan to visit the US once again was delayed, forever as it turned out, by WW II. Say's American-born mother married in Japan (cf. Tree of Cranes, 1991), while he, born in Yokohama, came here at 16. In lucid, graceful language, he chronicles these passages, reflecting his love of both countries--plus the expatriate's ever-present longing for home--in both simple text and exquisitely composed watercolors: scenes of his grandfather discovering his new country and returning with new appreciation to the old, and pensive portraits recalling family photos, including two evoking the war and its aftermath. Lovely, quiet--with a tenderness and warmth new to this fine illustrator's work.
Publishers Weekly (August 16, 1993)
Say transcends the achievements of his Tree of Cranes and A River Dream with this breathtaking picture book, at once a very personal tribute to his grandfather and a distillation of universally shared emotions. Elegantly honed text accompanies large, formally composed paintings to convey Say's family history; the sepia tones and delicately faded colors of the art suggest a much-cherished and carefully preserved family album. A portrait of Say's grandfather opens the book, showing him in traditional Japanese dress, ``a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world.'' Crossing the Pacific on a steamship, he arrives in North America and explores the land by train, by riverboat and on foot. One especially arresting, light-washed painting presents Grandfather in shirtsleeves, vest and tie, holding his suit jacket under his arm as he gazes over a prairie: ``The endless farm fields reminded him of the ocean he had crossed.'' Grandfather discovers that ``the more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places,'' but he nevertheless returns home to marry his childhood sweetheart. He brings her to California, where their daughter is born, but her youth reminds him inexorably of his own, and when she is nearly grown, he takes the family back to Japan. The restlessness endures: the daughter cannot be at home in a Japanese village; he himself cannot forget California. Although war shatters Grandfather's hopes to revisit his second land, years later Say repeats the journey: ``I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own.'' The internal struggle of his grandfather also continues within Say, who writes that he, too, misses the places of his childhood and periodically returns to them. The tranquility of the art and the powerfully controlled prose underscore the profundity of Say's themes, investing the final line with an abiding, aching pathos: ``The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.'' Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
School Library Journal (September 1998)
Gr 3 Up-A personal history of three generations of the author's family that points out the emotions that are common to the immigrant experience. Splendid, photoreal watercolors have the look of formal family portraits or candid snapshots, all set against idyllic landscapes in Japan and in the U.S. (Sept., 1993)
E. CONNECTIONS
Young readers can draw and tell of a place they miss when they are not there.
Other books by Allen Say:
Say, Allen. THE BICYCLE MAN. ISBN 0395322543
Say, Allen. THE LOST LAKE. ISBN 0395630363
Say, Allen. A RIVER DREAM. ISBN 0295482941
THE STAR FISHER
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Yep, Laurence. 1991. THE STARFISHER. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0590462431
B. PLOT SUMMARY
In 1927 Joan and her family move from Ohio to West Virginia. As the first Chinese-Americans in a West Virginia town, fifteen year old Joan struggles with growing up, realizing and accepting her mother as a regular person, and the prejudice of the town’s people. Acceptance of the fact that her Chinese culture makes her different complicates these struggles.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Yep creates a book that is unique to the Chinese struggle for acceptance in America and universal in a daughter’s growth to maturity. Yep develops a cast of individually strong characters through which he tells his story. The story is told through fifteen year old Joan who is strong beyond her years. As the oldest child she cares for her two younger siblings as well helping her parents in the family laundry business. Often she is called upon to be the primary translator for her parents due to their very limited English speaking skills. This strength is exhibited the second day in West Virginia when she is sent to the store for bread with a very limited budget. The conversation with her mother before this excursion and the resulting interaction with an unfamiliar merchant show that although she really does not want to do this, she will obey her mother and she refuses to be intimidated by the merchant. Mrs. Lee stands alone and appears somewhat removed until the reader understands she is the backbone of the family. Her Chinese upbringing is a guiding force that creates great friction when raising children in America. Change is difficult for her, but for her children she tries.
Two themes weave through this story. One is the struggle between mother and daughter that occurs when the daughter is becoming independent. The other theme is the blending of the Chinese culture into American living. Both struggles create support and conflict with the other.
Many cultural markers are evident throughout this book. Early in the book Joan tells her little sister, Emily, a story to get her to go to sleep. It is a story about a starfisher, a traditional Chinese story. This story is referred to throughout the book as Joan draws comparisons to it. Another cultural marker is the respect and obedience the children show their parents in the book. This is realistically portrayed because they (the children) sometimes argue, they know which parent to ask permission to do things, and sometimes they find ways around strictly following parental directions. An example is Joan’s translations of English for her mother. The cultural marker of language was used in an interesting format. Readers are to note that words in italics are spoken in English while the remaining text is occurring is Chinese. This was a unique manner of including a language that many do not read. Traditional Chinese values are evident in the struggle Mrs. Lee has dealing with living in modern America. She has a hard time accepting the changes that have been thrust upon her in this new country that shows no respect for what she thinks is proper and right. Yep shows a realistic struggle between being Chinese and living in America using characters with both positive and negative traits.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly, 05/10/1991
Fifteen-year-old Joan Lee tells of her family's hard-won acceptance as the first Chinese-Americans in a small West Virginia town. It is 1927, and few in Clarksburg have the breadth of experience or spirit to offer foreigners their friendship. The Lees are greeted instead by verbal jibes and threats painted on their fence, until their remarkable landlady becomes a catalyst for change. Beneath Joan's direct, deceptively simple narrative voice lies an emotionally complex tale. Drawing on his mother's immigrant experience as the basis for this moving story, Newbery Honor author Yep ( Drag on wings ; The Rainbow People ) skillfully avoids pat or reductive explanations. He gives his heroine, for example, the maturity to recognize the biases her own family holds as well as the courage to stand up to the more blatant and violent prejudices of her neighbors. A traditional Chinese myth about the starfisher--half-bird, half-human, confined to the earth but yearning for the stars--weaves through the story, a poetic but insistent metaphor for Joan's own hopes and dreams. Ages 8-up. (May)
School Library Journal, 05/01/1991
Gr 6-8-- On the first night in their new home in a small West Virginia town, 15-year-old Joan Lee lulls her little sister to sleep with the story of a magical kingfisher who is held captive in human form by her mortal husband, but who is later helped by her daughter. She soon joins her mother in the stars, but is sometimes seen, cometlike, attempting to bridge heaven and Earth. Joan, the oldest daughter of the only Chinese family in 1927 Clarksburg, at first sees only herself in the story's symbols: caught between two worlds. As she braves the curiosity and prejudice of the townspeople, helps bridge a friendship between her mother and an elderly neighbor, and gets acquainted with an enigmatic classmate, she realizes that she is not the only one struggling to find a niche. Joan's story will appeal to any reader who has ever felt excluded, but she and her family seem to hold many more stories begging to be shared. Based on tales Yep gleaned from his mother and her family, whose resilience and humor shine through, The Star Fisher offers tantalizing glimpses of interesting characters, but abruptly shifts focus from a family story with the younger sister as a strong character to a relationship between mother and daughter. Basically, there is too much depth and complexity here to be confined to one book. --Carla Kozak, San Francisco Public Library
Kirkus Reviews, 04/15/1991
The author of Dragonwings (Newbery Honor, 1976) draws on his mother's childhood to depict a Chinese family's experiences when they arrive from Ohio to open a West Virginia laundry in 1927. Eldest child Joan Lee is 15; unlike their parents, she and her siblings were born in the US and speak English. Their first two encounters set up the difficulties they will face and how they will be countered: when they step off the train in Clarksburg, ne'er-do-well bigots greet them with cruel taunts; but their landlady, a retired schoolmistress, warmly welcomes and befriends them. Still, ""The Star Fisher,"" a Chinese folk tale Joan shares with her little sister, symbolizes Joan's position even after she gains acceptance: like the child of the selkie-like bird-wife in the story, she sees through two sets of eyes. Yep has shaped his family's stories into a rather old-fashioned novel of small-town prejudice bowing to good will and some humorously applied ingenuity. Joan is provided with another spunky outcast as a friend; pungent family interaction and abundant period details help to complete a vivid picture. While learning to cook, Mrs. Lee bakes a series of inedible apple pies that strain credulity, but they do serve the plot well when she finally bakes a good one and makes a hit at a church social. A likable, thoughtful story about a young woman learning to value her own differences. Copyright 2003, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Publishers Weekly, 08/03/1992
Based on the author's own experiences, this Christopher Award winner movingly describes a Chinese American family's adjustment to their new home in West Virginia in 1927 and the prejudice they encounter there. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)
E. Connections
Have students brainstorm several important events in the story, and then have them write about why they think that event was important to the story.
Other books about Chinese immigration include these titles:
Engler, Mary. I. M. PEI. ISBN 1410910563
Thornton, Jeremy. THE GOLD RUSH: CHINESE IMMIGRANTS COME TO AMERICA (1848-1882) ISBN 0823968332
Yep, Laurence. THE DRAGON’S CHILD; A STORY OF ANGEL ISLAND ISBN 0060276924
Yep, Laurence. 1991. THE STARFISHER. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0590462431
B. PLOT SUMMARY
In 1927 Joan and her family move from Ohio to West Virginia. As the first Chinese-Americans in a West Virginia town, fifteen year old Joan struggles with growing up, realizing and accepting her mother as a regular person, and the prejudice of the town’s people. Acceptance of the fact that her Chinese culture makes her different complicates these struggles.
C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Yep creates a book that is unique to the Chinese struggle for acceptance in America and universal in a daughter’s growth to maturity. Yep develops a cast of individually strong characters through which he tells his story. The story is told through fifteen year old Joan who is strong beyond her years. As the oldest child she cares for her two younger siblings as well helping her parents in the family laundry business. Often she is called upon to be the primary translator for her parents due to their very limited English speaking skills. This strength is exhibited the second day in West Virginia when she is sent to the store for bread with a very limited budget. The conversation with her mother before this excursion and the resulting interaction with an unfamiliar merchant show that although she really does not want to do this, she will obey her mother and she refuses to be intimidated by the merchant. Mrs. Lee stands alone and appears somewhat removed until the reader understands she is the backbone of the family. Her Chinese upbringing is a guiding force that creates great friction when raising children in America. Change is difficult for her, but for her children she tries.
Two themes weave through this story. One is the struggle between mother and daughter that occurs when the daughter is becoming independent. The other theme is the blending of the Chinese culture into American living. Both struggles create support and conflict with the other.
Many cultural markers are evident throughout this book. Early in the book Joan tells her little sister, Emily, a story to get her to go to sleep. It is a story about a starfisher, a traditional Chinese story. This story is referred to throughout the book as Joan draws comparisons to it. Another cultural marker is the respect and obedience the children show their parents in the book. This is realistically portrayed because they (the children) sometimes argue, they know which parent to ask permission to do things, and sometimes they find ways around strictly following parental directions. An example is Joan’s translations of English for her mother. The cultural marker of language was used in an interesting format. Readers are to note that words in italics are spoken in English while the remaining text is occurring is Chinese. This was a unique manner of including a language that many do not read. Traditional Chinese values are evident in the struggle Mrs. Lee has dealing with living in modern America. She has a hard time accepting the changes that have been thrust upon her in this new country that shows no respect for what she thinks is proper and right. Yep shows a realistic struggle between being Chinese and living in America using characters with both positive and negative traits.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publishers Weekly, 05/10/1991
Fifteen-year-old Joan Lee tells of her family's hard-won acceptance as the first Chinese-Americans in a small West Virginia town. It is 1927, and few in Clarksburg have the breadth of experience or spirit to offer foreigners their friendship. The Lees are greeted instead by verbal jibes and threats painted on their fence, until their remarkable landlady becomes a catalyst for change. Beneath Joan's direct, deceptively simple narrative voice lies an emotionally complex tale. Drawing on his mother's immigrant experience as the basis for this moving story, Newbery Honor author Yep ( Drag on wings ; The Rainbow People ) skillfully avoids pat or reductive explanations. He gives his heroine, for example, the maturity to recognize the biases her own family holds as well as the courage to stand up to the more blatant and violent prejudices of her neighbors. A traditional Chinese myth about the starfisher--half-bird, half-human, confined to the earth but yearning for the stars--weaves through the story, a poetic but insistent metaphor for Joan's own hopes and dreams. Ages 8-up. (May)
School Library Journal, 05/01/1991
Gr 6-8-- On the first night in their new home in a small West Virginia town, 15-year-old Joan Lee lulls her little sister to sleep with the story of a magical kingfisher who is held captive in human form by her mortal husband, but who is later helped by her daughter. She soon joins her mother in the stars, but is sometimes seen, cometlike, attempting to bridge heaven and Earth. Joan, the oldest daughter of the only Chinese family in 1927 Clarksburg, at first sees only herself in the story's symbols: caught between two worlds. As she braves the curiosity and prejudice of the townspeople, helps bridge a friendship between her mother and an elderly neighbor, and gets acquainted with an enigmatic classmate, she realizes that she is not the only one struggling to find a niche. Joan's story will appeal to any reader who has ever felt excluded, but she and her family seem to hold many more stories begging to be shared. Based on tales Yep gleaned from his mother and her family, whose resilience and humor shine through, The Star Fisher offers tantalizing glimpses of interesting characters, but abruptly shifts focus from a family story with the younger sister as a strong character to a relationship between mother and daughter. Basically, there is too much depth and complexity here to be confined to one book. --Carla Kozak, San Francisco Public Library
Kirkus Reviews, 04/15/1991
The author of Dragonwings (Newbery Honor, 1976) draws on his mother's childhood to depict a Chinese family's experiences when they arrive from Ohio to open a West Virginia laundry in 1927. Eldest child Joan Lee is 15; unlike their parents, she and her siblings were born in the US and speak English. Their first two encounters set up the difficulties they will face and how they will be countered: when they step off the train in Clarksburg, ne'er-do-well bigots greet them with cruel taunts; but their landlady, a retired schoolmistress, warmly welcomes and befriends them. Still, ""The Star Fisher,"" a Chinese folk tale Joan shares with her little sister, symbolizes Joan's position even after she gains acceptance: like the child of the selkie-like bird-wife in the story, she sees through two sets of eyes. Yep has shaped his family's stories into a rather old-fashioned novel of small-town prejudice bowing to good will and some humorously applied ingenuity. Joan is provided with another spunky outcast as a friend; pungent family interaction and abundant period details help to complete a vivid picture. While learning to cook, Mrs. Lee bakes a series of inedible apple pies that strain credulity, but they do serve the plot well when she finally bakes a good one and makes a hit at a church social. A likable, thoughtful story about a young woman learning to value her own differences. Copyright 2003, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Publishers Weekly, 08/03/1992
Based on the author's own experiences, this Christopher Award winner movingly describes a Chinese American family's adjustment to their new home in West Virginia in 1927 and the prejudice they encounter there. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)
E. Connections
Have students brainstorm several important events in the story, and then have them write about why they think that event was important to the story.
Other books about Chinese immigration include these titles:
Engler, Mary. I. M. PEI. ISBN 1410910563
Thornton, Jeremy. THE GOLD RUSH: CHINESE IMMIGRANTS COME TO AMERICA (1848-1882) ISBN 0823968332
Yep, Laurence. THE DRAGON’S CHILD; A STORY OF ANGEL ISLAND ISBN 0060276924
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