Description: Promised safety outside of San Francisco, twelve-year-old Mei Mei travels by herself to Eureka, California where she navigates increasing violence against her community leading up to the expulsion of Chinese immigrants in 1885.
Brief description: Victoria Chang has written several books of poetry, including With My Back to the World and The Trees Witness Everything, and a nonfiction book, Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief. Her poetry collection OBIT was named a New York Times Notable Book; received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the PEN/Voelcker Award; was long-listed for the National Book Award; and was named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. With My Back to the World received the Forward Prize for Best Collection of Poetry and was short-listed for the PEN/Jean Stein Award, the California Book Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Chang has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the Chowdhury Prize in Literature. She is the Bourne Chair in Poetry at Georgia Tech and the director of Poetry@Tech.
Review Quotes:
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
"The lyrical free verse transports readers into the vividly realized historical setting... This resonant story will endure for its specificity, poignancy, and metaphorical yet accessible verse." --Kirkus, starred review "Powerful... a welcome addition to any middle school historical fiction collection and will surely attract readers drawn to impactful -stories told through lyrical verse." --School Library Journal, starred review "Chang vividly renders discrimination and racism experienced by those of Chinese heritage in 1880s California through the eyes of a 12-year-old Chinese immigrant in this dynamic verse novel." --Publishers Weekly "Emotionally resonant... Full of heart, this novel shines a light on an important time in history." --Booklist "Transportive... freedom, found family, and hope are all featured in this heartbreaking yet stirring story of survival." --Shelf Awareness "Mei-Mei's voice is strong and direct as she narrates with a pragmaticism that is nonetheless emotive and sympathetic." --BCCB "[An] emotive novel in verse... balances traumatic experiences with moments of bravery and kindness." --Horn Book "This heartfelt novel, gorgeously written in free verse, shines a light on these lesser-known historical events." --The Week Junior