Status
Available
Publication
Clarion Books (2022), 272 pages
Library's review
A “half-Chinese and half-white” girl finds her place in a Little House–inspired fictional settler town.
After the death of her Chinese mother, Hanna, an aspiring dressmaker, and her White father seek a fresh start in Dakota Territory. It’s 1880, and they endure challenges similar to those
Remarkable.
After the death of her Chinese mother, Hanna, an aspiring dressmaker, and her White father seek a fresh start in Dakota Territory. It’s 1880, and they endure challenges similar to those
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faced by the Ingallses and so many others: dreary travel through unfamiliar lands, the struggle to protect food stores from nature, and the risky uncertainty of establishing a livelihood in a new place. Fans of the Little House books will find many of the small satisfactions of Laura’s stories—the mouthwatering descriptions of victuals, the attention to smart building construction, the glorious details of pleats and poplins—here in abundance. Park brings new depth to these well-trodden tales, though, as she renders visible both the xenophobia of the town’s White residents, which ranges in expression from microaggressions to full-out assault, and Hanna’s fight to overcome it with empathy and dignity. Hanna’s encounters with women of the nearby Ihanktonwan community are a treat; they hint at the whole world beyond a White settler perspective, a world all children deserve to learn about. A deeply personal author’s note about the story’s inspiration may leave readers wishing for additional resources for further study and more clarity about her use of Lakota/Dakota. While the cover art unfortunately evokes none of the richness of the text and instead insinuates insidious stereotypes, readers who sink into the pages behind it will be rewarded.Remarkable.
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Awards
Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2023)
Triple Crown Awards (Nominee — 2023)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — 2022)
Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2022)
South Dakota Children's Book Awards (Nominee — 2023)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
Bluestem Award (Nominee — 2022)
Nevada Young Readers' Award (Nominee — 2022)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Almost Made It — 2022)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2023)
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Honor Book — Children's — 2021)
Iowa Children's Choice Award (Nominee — 2022)
North Carolina Children's Book Award (Nominee — 2021)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Grades 4-6 — 2022)
Flicker Tale Award (Nominee — Middle Readers — 2021)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2022)
Azia Books Diversity Award (Listed — 2022)
Maine Student Book Award (Reading List — 2022)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
CCBC Choices (2021)
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Book (Junior — 2021)
Notable Children's Book (2021)
Nerdy Book Award (Middle Grade Fiction — 2020)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Children's Books — 2020)
El día de los niños / El día de los libros (3-5 — 2021)
Project LIT Book Selection (Middle Grade — 2021)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Fiction for Older Readers — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2020-03-03
ISBN
0358454638 / 9780358454632