The Lotus Seed

Sherry Garland

ISBN 10: 078077261X ISBN 13: 9780780772618

Publisher: Perfection Learning, 1997

Synopsis

"My grandmother saw the emperor cry the day he lost his golden dragon throne."

So begins Sherry Garland's emotional tale of a Vietnamese family forced to flee from their homeland to escape a devastating civil war. Set against a background of historical events, "The Lotus Seed" thoughtfully portrays refugees who have adapted to a different way of life in a new country without losing touch with their cultural heritage. Theirs is an American story about the continuity of family and culture.

An Alternate Selection of Children's Book-of-the-Month Club

About this title

About the Author:

SHERRY GARLAND is the author of many award-winning novels and picture books, including Indio, The Last Rainmaker. She lives in central Texas. www.sherrygarland.com

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-5-- A nameless Vietnamese narrator tells of her grandmother who, as a girl, accidentally sees the last emperor cry on the day of his abdication. She surreptitiously enters the palace gardens and takes a lotus seed as a remembrance of that day and her ruler. She keeps the seed with her through vicissitudes of war, flight, and emigration until one summer a grandson (the narrator's brother) steals it and plants it in a mud pool near the family's American home. Grandmother is inconsolable when the exact spot cannot be found. The following spring, a lotus grows from the mud puddle and in time the elderly woman gives a seed to each of her grandchildren, reserving one for herself. The narrator vows to plant hers one day, give the seeds to her own children, keep the tradition, and share her grandmother's memories. This tale of hope and continuance is told with disarming simplicity. Interesting oil paintings, largely in earth tones, are slightly mannered, yet culturally accurate, and often moving in their amplification of the text. A warm addition to school and public library collections. --John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Perfection Learning
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 078077261X
• ISBN 13: 9780780772618
• Binding: Library Binding
• Illustrator: Tatsuro Kiuchi