From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-Thirteen years after the publication of Tales from Gold Mountain (Groundwood, 1999), Yee returns with these 10 ghost stories, all infused with the experiences of Chinese immigrants who came in search of wealth in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. In "Seawall Sightings," a woman comes to meet her lover in 1912, only to be imprisoned by the Department of Immigration for illegally entering the country. In "Digging Deep," a terrified young man promises his body to the spirit of dead miners in exchange for the courage to face his dangerous job in the coal mines. Readers will absorb a great deal of the history of hard labor and prejudice faced by these immigrants while enjoying the supernatural elements that pervade each story. Chan's moody, abstract illustrations add to the dark tone of the book, which is for an older audience than the previous book. Aside from a brief note, Yee provides very little history to ground readers new to the topic, and the stories, while never specifying locations, are based primarily on Chinese experiences in Canada. Still, this would make a wonderful book to read aloud or to assign as a supplement to studies of Chinese immigration.Ashley Larsen, Woodside Library, CACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 6-12. Drawing on ghost stories told among early Chinese immigrants in Canada and the U.S., Yee brings the supernatural right into daily life, setting the harsh facts on the edge of horror or redemption. His plain, beautiful words speak with brutal honesty in 10 short stories about the immigrant struggle: the backbreaking work in the gold mines, on the railroads, in the forests, laundries, kitchens; the anguish of leaving home, and of being left behind; the dreams of riches and reunion; the shock of prejudice and betrayal. The tales are arranged chronologically, beginning with the nineteenth-century migration from China to Gold Mountain in the Pacific Northwest, and ending in the 1950s in a city near the Atlantic. In one story a woman finally gets to join her husband in the New World, only to find that he has a "local" wife who speaks English and wears modern clothes. Young lovers imprisoned and separated by harsh immigration restrictions are united after death. A gold miner steals from his best friend; a farm worker pushes his brother into the river; then the past haunts the living and won't let go. An eerie full-page illustration by Chan at the start of each story captures the strange, unsettled world of those who leave home to find home. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
These original stories blend folklore and legend with contemporary settings to create a realistic portrayal of the Chinese immigrant experience. From poor villagers seeking to better their lives in the 1850s to families escaping Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, these tales describe the resilience of a people in a strange new land. But the tales are also ghost stories, a popular narrative form in China. Wherever the immigrants go, they are reminded of home — the curse of a betrayed friend, the ghost of a faithful spouse, the spirit of a dead parent. In the title story, two friends seek gold in the New World, but the precious metal brings riches to one man and curses to the other. In "Digging Deep," a pampered and fearful young man takes a job in a coal mine to prove his bravery, but at a dreadful price. Taken together, these tales create a New World mythology of 140 years of tumultuous immigrant experience.

ANNOTATION

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.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The characters in these stories are men and women, rich and poor, greedy and good, young and old -- all Chinese immigrants struggling to make new lives for themselves in North America. Yet wherever they go, they are followed by reminders of their home country -- the curse of a friend betrayed, the ghost of a faithful spouse, the spirit of a dead parent.

In the title story, two friends seek gold in the New World, but the precious metal brings riches to one man and a curse to the other. In "The Memory Stone," a beautiful young widow is betrayed when her fiance goes to the New World and marries another woman. The young lovers in "Seawall Sightings," kept apart by racist immigration laws, have a tragic reunion. And in "Reunited," a spoiled teenaged boy leaves Hong Kong to live in North America, where he runs up against his father's Old World values and finds that his new life is not the glamorous existence he had been expecting.

These ten original ghost stories dramatize the tumultuous history of 140 years of Chinese immigration to North America -- from the poor village men who first came searching for gold in the late 1850s to the new immigrants who arrived from Hong Kong in the wake of the Communist victory in China. As with the award-winning collection, Tales from Gold Mountain, Paul Yee's stories are fiction but told in the style of the traditional folktales that were shared with fellow men in the bachelor halls or with children and grandchildren at family banquets. But they are also ghost stories, a popular Chinese narrative form. Accompanied by eerie, evocative plates by award-winning illustrator Harvey Chan, these tales provide young readers with a New World mythology of immigrant stories.

FROM THE CRITICS

School Library Journal