Landed - Hardcover

Lee, Milly

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374343144 ISBN 13: 9780374343149

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), 2006

Synopsis

Sun is ready to leave his village in China for America, the
place known as Gum Saan, Gold Mountain. His father warns
him, though, that passage will not be easy. Because of the 1882
Chinese Exclusion Act, new immigrants like Sun are detained
at Angel Island until they are called to take a difficult oral
exam before they can "land" – leave Angel Island and go
ashore. On the boat, Sun had studied maps of his village and
memorized facts about his ancestors. But as the weeks pass in
detainment, the map's compass points swirl in his memory, and
Sun worries that he will lose his direction and be turned away.
The oil paintings are rich with historical details in this vivid
recounting, based on the author's father-in-law's experiences, of
a disturbing chapter in Chinese American history.

About this title

About the Author

MILLY LEE is the author of Earthquake (see page 49), also
illustrated by Yangsook Choi. She grew up in San Francisco's
Chinatown and lives in Santa Rosa, California. YANGSOOK
CHOI has written and illustrated many books for children,
including Peach Heaven. She lives in New York City.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. Like Katrina Saltonstall Currier's Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain (2005), this poignant picture book is about a Chinese immigrant boy trying to join his father^B in America. But this story is much more detailed, with a lengthy text that describes leaving the old country as well as the difficulties of getting into the new one. Drawing on her father-in-law's experience, Lee tells of Sun, 12, whose family employs a tutor to help prepare him for American officials' questions. Sun must memorize minute details about his home in China to prove that he is his father's true son. Indeed, Sun is detained on Angel Island, where he is interrogated for a month, and where he makes friends with two "paper sons," who have made up identities to get into the country. The story is told with quiet restraint; there are no emotional partings from Sun's mother in China, no tearful reunions with older brothers already in California. But the tension is always there, and Choi's beautiful, full-page oil paintings, in sepia tones and shades of green, are quiet and packed with feeling--especially evident when the boy, stripped to the waist, endures the humiliating medical exam and when, dressed in suit and tie, he faces his interrogators, trying to remember his story. Pair this with Lawrence Yep's Tongues of Jade (1991) and other stories of immigrants detained on Ellis Island, terrified of being sent back. Hazel Rochman
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Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0374343144
• ISBN 13: 9780374343149
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Choi Yangsook