Ten ghost stories about Chinese people who, having come to North America to make their fortunes, encounter ghosts who either help or hinder their success.
Americas
Materials from the Americas
Staking A Claim, The Journal Of Wong Ming-Chung, A Chinese Miner, California, 1852
In 1852, during the height of the California Gold Rush, ten-year-old Wong makes the dangerous trip to America to live with his uncle, exchanging the famine and war of his native country for brutal bullies and grueling labor in America, Wong joins his uncle and countless others in the effort to strike it rich on the great Golden Mountain. Unfortunately, he, and most of the rest of the dreamers, soon discover that there’s no such thing as a Golden Mountain, only dirt, mud, and occasionally tiny flecks of gold dust flecks that are to be turned over to the owners of the mines, in return for barely livable wages. However, someone as clever and resourceful as Wong will have to find other ingenious ways of making money if they’re going to make it in America. But can they overcome the bitter, racist white Americans to find success?
Theo Tan And The Fox Spirit
A twelve-year-old Chinese American boy must learn to embrace his heritage and accept his beloved older brother’s spirit companion–a mystical fox named Kai–to solve the mystery of Jamie’s death.
Oranges On Golden Mountain
When hard times fall on his family, Jo Lee is sent from China to San Francisco, where he helps his uncle fish and dreams of being reunited with his mother and sister.
We Are Water Protectors
When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people’s water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth’s most sacred resource.
This book is discussed in WOW Review: Volume 14, Issue 2, WOW Currents: Water In Indigenous Children’s Literature, and WOW Currents: Environmental Sciences.
Red, White, And Whole
Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted–they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked–Reha means “star” and Punam means moon–but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life.
Growing An Artist: The Story Of A Landscaper And His Son
Today Juanito is accompanying his father who is in the landscaping business, and he takes his sketchbook along to draw anything that catches his eye, and gets to help his father plan an entire garden–and then help plant it. Includes an autobiographical note.
Rima’s Rebellion: Courage In A Time Of Tyranny
In 1920s Cuba, Rima is bullied and shunned for her illegitimacy but finds solace in riding her horse and forges unexpected friendships with others who share her dreams of freedom and suffrage.
I’m Not Sydney!
Hanging upside down in a tree, Sydney imagines he is a sleepy, sun-bathing sloth. And that’s where Sami finds him. Sami thinks sloths are too slow, so she scampers up the tree and becomes a spider monkey. “Fast is fun!” she chatters. “Fast is best!” And that’s where Edward finds them…One after another, the neighborhood kids wander by and slip into a shared imaginative world where leaves and giant flowers unfurl, playing, laughing, teasing and bickering, until Edward the elephant fills up his trunk and—WHOOSH!—sends the children “galloping home like a herd of small wet animals.”
The Sheep, The Rooster, And The Duck
In 1783 France, ten-year-old Emilie works as Benjamin Franklin’s caretaker, but after he finds himself in the middle of a sinister plot, he helps France’s undercover guardians, a sheep, a roster and a duck save the world.