Remembering

Linda Gerdner and Sarah Langford (authors)
Stuart Loughridge (illustrator)
Grandfather's Story Cloth
Shen's Books, 2008

A sensitive and creative boy, Chersheng lives with his brother, parents, and grandfather in the United States. His aging grandfather is afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, and Chersheng must cope with Grandfather's unpredictable forgetfulness. When Grandfather gathers wood for a fire or leaves the bathroom faucet running, it isn't so bad. But, one night, Grandfather forgets who Chersheng is. To comfort him, Chersheng's mother shows him a story cloth that Grandfather made after the family along with other Hmong people fled Laos and lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. The story cloth gives Chersheng a way to connect with his grandfather, and it inspires him to create new artwork connecting grandfather's story to his own.

American dream

Yin (author) and Chris Soentpiet (illustrator)

Brothers

Philomel, 2006

  A few weeks ago, I wrote about another book, Coolies, by this wife-and-husband team. Five years after that effort, Yin and Chris Soentpiet published this book Brothers. Like Coolies, Brothers features a pair of Chinese immigrant brothers, Shek and Ming. The story begins with Shek meeting his younger brother Ming who has just disembarked in San Francisco. When Shek finds extra work on a farm, Ming minds the store in Chinatown. Ming is not supposed to wander beyond the immediate neighborhood, but his curiosity gets the best of him. He meets a boy his age, Patrick O'Farrell, and their transcultural friendship eventually saves the family's store.
  Yin's story clearly chooses to focus on the possibilities of cooperative success (note the boys' excitement bursting in the illustration with a newly fashioned sign, "General Store, We Speak English"), instead of the dark stories of immigration and racism. It gives us reason to feel good, to hope, and to keep trying to make our world a better place. Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are, like Yin's story, finely crafted. There is evidence of generosity and care on every page of this satisfying story.

Pioneers

Yin (author)

Chris Soentpiet (illustrator)

Coolies

Philomel, 2001

Yin tells the story of the building of the transcontinental railroad through two brothers, Shek and Wong. The two flee the turmoil and famine of 19th-century China, cross the Pacific, and begin lives of bitter labor. Alongside hundreds of countrymen, they endure hardship and racism. Never losing their dignity or humanity, Shek and Wong help to complete the railroad, settle in San Francisco, and assist family to immigrate to the United States. Yin effectively uses the voices of later descendants—a young Chinese-American boy and his grandmother, PawPaw 婆婆—to capture our attention and transport us to the past. Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are sumptuous, grand, dramatic, and deeply moving. 

Belonging

Margy Burns Knight (author)
Anne Sibley O'Brien (illustrator)
Who Belongs Here? An American Story
Tilbury, 1993

After losing his parents and fleeing from the Khmer Rouge, Nary escapes with his grandmother and an uncle first to a refugee camp in Thailand, then to the United States. Here, Nary finds food in abundance and freedom, but also ignorance and verbal slurs. One classmate calls him a "chink." Another tells him to "go home where you belong." But, who belongs and who would be left if everyone was told to leave? In between Nary's story, Margy Burns Knight weaves in broad strokes the story of immigrants from all parts of the world who came and continue to come to the United States. Nary's encounter with intolerance becomes a teaching moment, which leads to the story's happy resolution. I remember hearing those ugly words and phrases myself, and am glad to see Knight's book. The prose is, at times, somewhat heavy-handed, distancing, and didactic; but I couldn't agree more with the book's message.

Sushi chef's story

Lynne Barasch
Hiromi's Hands
Lee & Low, 2007

Lynne Barasch tells the true story of Hiromi Suzuki (a chef in a Japanese restaurant in New York City), who learns from her father how to select fish, scrub floors, prepare rice, and roll outstanding sushi. Along the way, Barasch compares the patriarchal norms of the traditional Japanese society in which Hiromi's parents, Akira and Kaoru grew up, to the possibilities that characterize the more contemporary America to which they immigrated. At times, Barasch tells more than she shows, but the story can inspire girls to challenge norms that would exclude them. The book closes with an illustrated dictionary of select sushi, a photograph of the real Hiromi, and a glossary with pronunciation.

Freedom wrings

Belle Yang
Hannah Is My Name
Candlewick, 2004

  Through Hannah, we learn about the anxieties and trials of immigration for a Taiwanese family in San Francisco. Among other things, Hannah must learn a new language, bid farewell to a friend whose family is deported to Hong Kong, and flee the hotel where her father works when an immigration officer comes for an inspection. But her daily trial is one shared by the entire family, waiting for green cards. At last the cards arrive, and Hannah proudly takes ownership of her American name and her legal status.
  Belle Yang's story and illustrations are bright and upbeat, rendering the immigration narrative accessible and minimizing the stress. But, the book's decided ambiguity generates its own anxieties. Why is Hannah's family rewarded with green cards, when her friend's family is deported? What are the ethics of immigration? "Freedom" is repeated a number of times, and we wonder, why is it that the so-called land of the free grants freedom to some and not others?