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Summary
Summary
Things aren't looking good for fourteen-year-old Mehrigul. She yearns to be in school, but she's needed on the family farm. The longer she's out of school, the more likely it is that she'll be sent off to a Chinese factory . . . perhaps never to return. Her only hope is an American woman who buys one of her decorative vine baskets for a staggering sum and says she will return in three weeks for more. Mehrigul must brave terrible storms, torn-up hands from workingthe fields, and her father's scorn to get the baskets done. The stakes are high, and time is passing. A powerful intergenerational story of a strong, creative young artist in a cruelly oppressive society.
Author Notes
Josanne LaValley traveled across the Taklamakan Desert to the Hotan region of China, where she spent time among the Uyghur. The recipient of an MFA in writing children's books from Vermont College, Ms. LaValley lives in New York City.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this debut novel, La Valley introduces Mehrigul, a 14-year-old Uyghur girl growing up in western China, who struggles with poverty, an alcoholic father and depressed mother, and government policies that could force her to be shipped off to work in a factory. Mehrigul's grandfather has shown her how to create cornucopia-style baskets from grapevines, a departure from the traditional handicrafts of her region, and one of them catches the attention of an American buyer, who pays extraordinarily well and orders more baskets on a tight (and probably impossible) deadline. The use of the grapevines as a metaphor for Uyghur resilience is a bit heavy-handed, but the blossoming of Mehrigul's artistic abilities and confidence are inspiring. Her loneliness and hopelessness in the face of many obstacles are also resonant, as is her longing to return to school, despite the pressure and need to help her family financially. For many readers, this book may be their first introduction to the Uyghur people, and La Valley strongly evokes the culture and struggles of an ethnic group whose future is less than certain. Ages 9-12. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Mehrigul is left with heavy responsibilities on the farm after her brother flees to avoid persecution by the Chinese government; without school, Mehrigul is terrified that she'll be forced into factory work. Then a glimpse of hope: an American woman offers to buy her baskets. Rich descriptions of Uyghur tribal life are woven into a narrative as unique as Mehrigul's baskets. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
A stranger had thought her simple twist of vines to be of value. This thought buoys Mehrigul, a Uyghur (a Turkic ethnic group), even while her impoverished family struggles to exist in the northwest region of China once known as East Turkestan, where ethnic populations, as in Tibet, are being culturally marginalized. Mehrigul endeavors to become an artisan whose basketry is appreciated. Of course, more is at stake than selling some baskets to an interested American woman. Because the girl's disgruntled gambler father needs her to do farmwork, she is no longer attending school and, therefore, is a target for government cadres to send south to work in a factory. A grandfather who believes in her gift inspires her determination to make something worthy for her benefactor's shop and dream of a different life. La Valley's debut is at times slowed by copious amounts of background on the region and its residents' daily lives. But when the focus is squarely on Mehrigul, it both engages and teaches.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
MIDDLE-GRADE and adult fiction share territory largely ignored by young adult literature: the exploration of countries and eras beyond the borders of the contemporary teenager's navel. Two new middle-grade novels, "The Vine Basket," by Josanne La Valley, and "A Girl Called Problem," by Katie Quirk, are set, respectively, in a Uighur community in Central Asia and rural Tanzania in the late 1960s. Writers who portray cultures unfamiliar to their readers face the challenge of establishing the milieus without getting mired in a bog of detail. These two novels use different approaches that can be discussed in cinematic terms. "The Vine Basket" begins with a close-up shot: "Mehrigul scanned the crowds at the market, looking for Ata. Surely by now her father had spent the yuan they'd made from the sale of a few peaches." There's a wealth of information in these simple sentences. The judicious use of two foreign words - "Ata" and "yuan" - quickly establishes the setting; we may not yet know where we are, but we know we're not "here." Selling peaches at a market: Mehrigul's family makes a living through farming, and the modifying "few" indicates that it's a poor living. Mehrigul is either anxious or annoyed, for while the first sentence is straightforward third-person narration, the second opens from her point of view: "Surely by now ..." La Valley continues this effective use of cinematic technique throughout. The narrative cleaves closely to Mehrigul's psyche, with cultural information woven in where relevant. Seldom does the "camera" pull back to show a wider view. Mehrigul, 14, struggles with concerns beyond her years, caring for her family while her alcoholic father and depressed mother all but abandon their parenting responsibilities. Her beloved brother has vanished, probably to join the Uighur independence movement. And the work required to support the family means Mehrigul must leave school: Chinese officials often send truant girls to work in factories far from their homes. Mehrigul's one hope rests on her skill as a basket weaver. An American woman on the hunt for indigenous crafts visits the market and admires a basket Mehrigul has woven from grapevines. The woman plans to return in three weeks' time and wants to buy all the baskets Mehrigul can produce. But between planting crops, preparing food, repairing the damage done by a vicious dust storm, and caring for her mother and younger sister, Mehrigul can barely find time to weave. Her only support is her frail, gentle grandfather, himself a skilled artisan. Heartened by his encouragement, Mehrigul makes several baskets - all of which are stolen. Only a few days remain before the American woman's return. With Mehrigul's hands injured and bleeding from farm work, will she be able to make anything the woman might buy? "The Vine Basket" is Mehrigul's story first. The tight focus on her character engages the reader so that learning about Uighur village life happens as a consequence, all the more memorable for being rendered as story rather than lesson. "A Girl Called Problem" takes a different approach, opening with a wide-angle panorama: "Tum, tum, tum, ratta, tum, tum, tum. The village's talking drums cut through the humid air. From as far away as the base of the distant hills, the people of Litongo hurried toward the drums, across the rocky landscape and through fields of cotton, rice and maize." Shida's entire village has been asked by Tanzania's president, Julius Nyerere, to relocate in an attempt to create ujamaa, the spirit of African familyhood. "Shida meant 'problem' in Swahili," Katie Quirk writes. "A family that had been cursed around the time of a child's birth named their baby Shida to mark the curse." After the village is moved, the curse Shida has carried all her life follows her, with the devastating death of a loved one. Although torn by doubt and grief, Shida must figure out who is committing acts of sabotage to force villagers to return to their former homes. The story gets off to a bumpy start as passages pull away from Shida to explain setting and culture. While informative, these sections have a distancing effect Cultural information and back story are also conveyed through dialogue included for the reader's benefit, rather than as intrinsic to the story, in a way that can feel stilted or forced. Where the story is strongest, though, is in Shida's determination to reconcile traditional beliefs with what she learns from the nurse in the new village. Her quest to become a healer parallels the village's effort to integrate modern ideas without dishonoring tradition, and readers will relate to her struggle between family and independence. Quirk and La Valley are both white Americans. Portraying a culture that is not one's own can be fraught with peril, from ensuring accuracy to avoiding condescension and stereotype. What is perhaps paramount is the writer's respect for characters with lives of emotional complexity. These novels achieve this, one immediately, the other eventually, which makes them welcome and worthwhile. Linda Sue Park is the author of many books for young readers, including "A Long Walk to Water" and the Newbery Medal winner "A Single Shard."
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-9-Set in present-day East Turkestan, Mehrigul is a 14-year-old Uyghur girl whose father, a drunken gambler, has forced her to leave school and work on the family farm. If she is not careful, she could be sent to China to work in a factory. Mehrigul's life seems hopeless until an American woman purchases a basket she made on market day and makes arrangements with her to buy more. The simple decorative baskets are made out of vines and arranged in a cone shape. Mehrigul faces numerous obstacles as she tries, with the support of her grandfather, to complete the order in just three weeks, a sale that could change her life of poverty forever. The audiobook starts abruptly by jumping right into the story (Clarion, 2013) with no mention of title or author. Listeners will feel for Mehrigul, but will lack any real connection because of limited character development. An additional purchase for libraries where the novel is popular.-Kathy Llera, Sayreville Middle School, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In a remote corner of China, a Uyghur girl faces government oppression and family troubles. Mehrigul's people live on a land they call East Turkestan, located south of Russia, north of Tibet and east of Pakistan. For centuries, their lives had been defined by the Kunlun Mountains and the Taklamakan Desert as they eked out a living strong in cultural traditions. Now under the control of the Chinese government, they are being forced off their mineral-rich land, and girls are sent to work in factories far to the south. Mehrigul has a gift for weaving baskets--as does her beloved grandfather--and when an American woman spots a purely decorative one she has woven to decorate the market cart and offers to buy more, Mehrigul sees a way to preserve her family farm and continue her schooling. In her debut novel, La Valley paints a memorable picture of this faraway people. Mehrigul's efforts to weave baskets that are beautiful rather than functional fill the pages with absorbing detail and poignancy. She prays that her hands "might make beautiful work" and that like the bamboo vine she "must learn to bend but not break." Her mother's withdrawal and her father's alcoholism and gambling are countered by her steadfast determination to maintain her self-worth. A haunting tale of artistic vision triumphing over adversity. (map, note from Mamatjian Juma of Radio Free Asia, afterword) (Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
