Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Scholastic Inc.
Pages
214
Description
In late nineteenth-century California, when Chinese immigrants are being driven out or even killed for fear they will take jobs from whites, fifteen-year-old Eliza Jane McCully defies the townspeople and her lighthouse-keeper father to help a Chinese boy who has been kind to her.
Description
By 1886 many of Eliza Jane McCully's neighbors are concerned that the growing immigrant Chinese population is threatening their comfortable way of life. But it is a young Chinese boy named Wah Chung who saves Eliza and her pet goat from being swept into the sea by a deadly wave. This makes Eliza wonder: Are the Chinese really people to be feared, as her father and their neighbors believe? Or are the Chinese immigrants people with whom the townspeople in Crescent City could live peaceably, with a little tolerance and understanding?
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
214 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0439457963 / 9780439457965
Similar in this library
Lexile
600L
User reviews
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
Narrated by Christina Moore. In 19th century coastal California, Eliza lives with her mother and father at a lgihthouse where she helps her father take charge of the beacon. They live near a town populated by whites and Chinese but there are increasingly hard feelings against the "Celestials" for
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"taking away jobs" and being "heathens." But when a Chinese boy named Wa Chung saves Eliza from being brought down by a wave she begins to see him and the other Chinese as people, not heathen. She takes issue against the whites driving the Chinese out of town. When it's discovered that Eliza is harboring Wa Chung at the lighthouse the consequence is her father's job and their beloved lifestyle off the mainland. Last chapter where she talks to her new baby brother Andrew John seemed extraneous and pedantic. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobertaLea
I have always enjoyed Susan Fletcher's writing. This is an excellent story of 1800's California.
LibraryThing member mutantpudding
The protagonists struggle with her faith and her father's prejudice hit a little close to home to be honest. Obviously not the 19th century lighthouse keeper part but emotionally this really hit me and the whole thing was very atmospheric and well written.
Awards
Triple Crown Awards (Nominee — 2004)
Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Junior — 2004)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee)
WILLA Literary Award (Finalist — Children’s/Young Adult — 2002)
Call number
J4E.Fle