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
|
