Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Bayport Public Library | YT FICTION YEP | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Lake Elmo Library | J FICTION MY | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A young Chinese boy nicknamed Runt records his experiences in a journal as he travels from southern China to California in 1852 to join his uncle during the Gold Rush.
Author Notes
Laurence Yep was born in San Francisco, California on June 14, 1948. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1970 and received a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
He primarily writes fiction for young adults, but has also written and edited several works for adults. His first novel, Sweetwater, was published in 1973. His other books include Dragonwings, Dragon's Gate, Shadow Lord, Child of the Owl, The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island. He has won numerous awards for his work including the Newbery Medal Honor Book, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Through his diary, a 12-year-old Chinese boy nicknamed "Runt" shares his thoughts, fears, insecurities, and adventures. When Runt's older brother, Blessing, is summoned to California by his uncle, his parents choose to send their younger son instead. Runt learns the hard way that although the Golden Mountain brings the promise of prosperity to his family in China, it also brings hardship, racism, and even death to the "guests" mining for gold. Despite the many difficulties that he is exposed to, however, Runt always has a positive outlook on life. The engrossing story involves readers from start to finish. Yep deals with timely issues, including racism, bullying, and trying to find self-worth. A historical note about the Gold Rush and black-and-white photos and illustrations of actual Chinese miners are appended. An engaging book with strong characters that successfully weaves fact with fiction.-Mercedes Smith, Bishop Kenny High School, Jacksonville, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Just the right blend of fear, sorrow, discontent, and determination permeates twelve-year-old RuntÆs reflections on his perilous voyage to the Gold Mountain, the backbreaking work in the mining camps, and the anti-Chinese sentiment of American claim-stakers. Ample historical and cultural details more than make up for the anticlimactic epilogue. A historical note and contemporary photos and drawings are appended. From HORN BOOK Fall 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Yep, who has practically cornered the market on stories exploring West Coast Chinese immigrant culture for young people, offers the newest fictional journal in the 'My Name Is America' series. The diarist is Bright Intelligence, more usually called Runt, who is sent to join his uncle as a 'guest' on the Golden Mountain (America) at the height of the Gold Rush. Leaving behind the war, crippling taxes, and famine of his southern Chinese village, Runt passes through teeming Hong Kong, endures a sea voyage that kills many of his fellow passengers, joins his uncle in the gold fields for a year of hard work, small rewards, and increasingly hostile treatment from white 'bullies.' Then he strikes it rich at last, after noticing flecks of gold, not in the rocks, but in the cabin floor dirt of abandoned claims. Yep wraps up Runt's tale with a fictional epilogue, then closes with a historical essay and a set of roughly contemporary photos. It's a smoothly readable odyssey, with some of the rawer edges knocked off'but readers will get a sense of the time's dreams and hardships, on both sides of the Pacific, and Runt is no passive observer of events. (archival drawings, photos) (Fiction. 10-12)
Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-7. In this novel, 11-year-old Wong Ming-Chung, better known as Runt, starts keeping a journal in October 1851, when his Uncle Stone leaves their village in China for the Golden Mountain, the gold fields of America. Later that year, Runt makes the difficult and dangerous journey as well, eventually finding his way to his uncle. Working together at a rough mining camp, Runt finds good friends from around the world, violent prejudice against Chinese, and, eventually, a little gold. Runt's quiet voice draws readers into an eventful and sometimes moving story. Well-drawn settings and characters on both sides of the Pacific contribute to the readers' sense of being there, transported through time to observe a unique era in American history and to watch Runt grow in confidence, cleverness, and self-reliance. A solid historical fiction choice from the My Name Is America series, the boys' division of the Dear America books. As with others in the umbrella series, a selection of photos and illustrations and a long historical note are included at the back. --Carolyn Phelan
