The Life and Works of Laurence Yep

His Life

The Lost Garden by Laurence Yep. Morrow Beech Tree Books, 1996.  have enjoyed many historical novels by Yep, and this book filled me in on some of the background of those novels. Most of the book deals with Yep's search for identity as a Chinese-American who was too American to fit in with the Chinese and too Chinese to fit in anywhere else. Since Yep is of my generation, I learned a bit of what it was like to grow up during my lifetime as Chinese in San Francisco as the child of a store owner in a changing neighborhood.

The first part of the book dealt with family background, life working in the family store, family relationships, and childhood memories of places. These were all interesting. But toward the end of the book as Yep moved into his experiences in high school and college, the book becomes quite humorous. I especially enjoyed his tales of various chemistry teachers and their experiments, mistakes, and disciplinary measures, as well as the pranks he inspired his students to perform (unintentionally.) BTH-5091. $5.39-D

His Works

Dragon's Gate. HarperCollins, 1975. Part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles. When he accidentally kills a Manchu, a Chinese boy is sent to America to join his father, an uncle, and other Chinese who are working to build a tunnel for the transcontinental railroad through the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1867. For ages 10 and up. 331 pages.  BTH-2730. $6.29-D

Dragonwings, Part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles.  HarperCollins, 1975. For ages 10 and up. 317 pages. BTH-2729. $6.29-D

Ribbons. Putnam Grosset, 1997. Eleven-year-old Robin resents having to give up her beloved ballet lessons because her family needs to use the money those lessons cost to bring Robin's grandmother over from China to live with their family in San Francisco. In this sensitively written book, Yep explores the cultural differences between the older generation of Chinese who were born in China and the younger, their grandchildren, who have been born and raised in America. In between are the parents caught in the middle, trying their best to care for their parents and also meet the needs of their own American born children.  As time passes and Robin discovers the pain her grandmother has suffered from having her feet bound, the two begin to understand and become more friendly toward each other.  For ages 8-12. 179 pages. BTH-2786. $5.39-D

The Star Fisher, Penguin, 1992. Laurence Yep often writes about the friction that happens in Chinese American families when the parents were born overseas and the children were born in the United States. Whereas the family bond is still strong between parents and children, the parents are often less flexible in adapting to a more casual and less structured American lifestyle than their children, and the children often get impatient with the Chinese” old ways'" that their parents cling to. This friction surfaces again in Star Fisher, set in Clarksburg, Ohio, in 1927, as Joan Lee adapts to being part of the first Chinese family to live in this town. Her parents have decided to open a Chinese laundry, but there is much prejudice against them at first, and they are reluctant to allow others to help them. Finally the persistence of a caring landlady in finding a way to help while letting the Lee family "save face" paves the way for the Lees to become a real part of the community, and a pie social at a local church plays an important part in helping the community view the Lees as people worth getting to know. This book should have a place in unit studies that deal with immigration, racial prejudice, and friendship across social and cultural barriers For ages 10-14. 150 pages. BTH-2787. $4.49-D