I am always on the look-out for a good immigration story. The topic is a big one in our curriculum. Imagine my delight upon having The Dragon's Child A Story of Angel Island, by Laurence and Kathleen Yep delivered by my fab colleague Jen.
A young boy, Gim Lew, is living with his family in his father's village in China. Father doesn't stay with them, however. He is a Guest of the Golden Mountain. In other words, he lives in America. He comes back periodically, brings money, and takes the sons away. Gim Lew first met his father two years ago, when he was seven years old. His father is a dragon, and the boy is nothing like him.
Gim Lew has a stutter and uses his left hand as well. He is just getting hit with the bamboo rod by his Uncle Jing, when word comes that his father has returned. His father is the most important man in the village, and as he usually brings gifts from San Fransisco, everyone is excited about his arrival. The New Year is just over, and most people could use the extra food that celebrations bring.
Gim Lew is shy around his father. His stutter is more pronounced, and he struggles to communicate with this important man. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that he too, is to return to the Golden Mountain with his father. Eventhough he does not want to go, he knows he must. The situation in China is precarious. If bandits do not get paid, they destroy villages. If the weather fails and the crops die, families will have nothing to eat if money is not sent.
Father soon starts preparing the boy for the "test". Gim Lew must learn every answer to any question that American immigration might ask of him. He is only ten. Can he overcome his shyness and his stutter to please his father?
Laurence and Kathleen Yep tell of the start of a journey and the stay at Angel Island. This story is a piece of their family history, though fictionalized. Readers get a clear view of a Chinese village, and of Shanghai as well. The journey on the ship is not glamorous, and one can only imagine the heat and stench of the hold. Even though Gim Lew's father is an American citizen, and therefore his children are too, the racism he faces everytime that he travels is intense and predictable.
The text is chock full of details that will enrich many a lesson on social justice, immigration, and family. There is a fourteen page essay after the conclusion of the book that details some of the hardships and legislation faced by the Chinese (and American Chinese) from the mid 1800s until the mid 1900s. Also included are some family photographs, and photos of the ships and of Angel Island.
A moving piece of historical fiction.
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By: Stacy Dillon,
on 2/11/2008
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Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: arc April 08, San Fransisco, Harper Collins, Angel Island, China, Historical Fiction, Immigration, Harper Collins, arc April 08, San Fransisco, Angel Island, Add a tag
0 Comments on The Dragon's Child as of 1/1/1900
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By: Betsy Bird,
on 5/23/2007
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Book Contests, Contesty-Westy, Eyewitness, A Vaughnfest is a Celebration of All Things Vince Vaughn, Are Eyewitness Books Like Ben and Jerry Flavors and Are Retired When They're No Longer Cool?, Add a tag
I don't suppose that this sort of thing is limited to librarians, but certainly members of my profession would take an interest in the prizes. DK Publishing is riding the publicity machine via a contest. Whaddaya win?
GRAND PRIZEEyewitness has its charms. Nobody in their right mind would ever use it as a reliable reference text, but for those kids who bat their long lashes at you and plead for something ANYTHING on one topic or another, they tend to do very well. Go wild, pretty kitties.
One grand prize winner will receive 100 Eyewitness books* of their choosing!
(*based on availability)
RUNNERS-UP
Five Runners-Up will receive a set of the four new Eyewitness titles, plus a set of the eight re-launched backlist titles!
THIRD PLACE
25 Third Place winners will receive a set of the four new Eyewitness titles!
3 Comments on I Spy With My Little Eye, Something That Rhymes with Vaughnfest, last added: 5/28/2007
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What? Why wouldn't you ever use them as a reliable reference text? They always looked a nice combination of big-shiny-overview and small-detailed-insets to me. (Only disliked the one on human sexuality -- those white backgrounds and flat lighting made everyone look like boiled ham. Always suspected it was supposed to contribute to teenage celibacy.
They haven't any source notes, bibliographies, or references anywhere in the text. The facts, as they stand, are always kind of jumbled and rambling too. I don't dislike the books personally, but there are far better sources to use for reports out there.
Oh my. I'm not a librarian, just a mom. And I love them.
(Okay, so I'm also a writer. I still like them.)
(And I'm a lawyer--there ARE "better" references out there, but the EYEWITNESS books are still fun.)