*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***
This book is remarkable for its place in children's literature. I appreciate its existence so much! It's a lovely story about a pioneer girl in the vein of Little House on the Prairie, but the main character, Hanna, is half Chinese.
Before moving to the Dakota Territory in 1880, Hanna and her parents lived through the 1871 mass lynching of Chinese people in Los Angeles. The event is used to set the tone for society's attitude towards Chinese people in the time period of this book. Personally, I did not know about this race riot until I was an adult - I certainly never heard about it in school - and I am beyond pleased that this book provides an opportunity for young readers to learn about this piece of American history.
I am especially thrilled that this book features a half-Chinese main character, since books featuring mixed race characters are even rarer than books featuring people of color. There is much in this book that will resonate with Asian and half-Asian readers: Hanna's anxiety and discomfort from being different from everyone around her; the physical and mental exhaustion of worrying about how she ought to behave, and how others are perceiving her, on top of all the regular expectations of being in school; the indiginities suffered when others mistreat her, and the injustice of being blamed for others' cruelty; the self-doubt in wondering how someone's behavior towards her might be different if she weren't Chinese. These are all the emotions and experiences that are familiar to Asian Americans today.
It's worth noting that the book does not use the word "chink" as a racial slur, but does use the phrase "chinks in the boards." (p. 68) I have to assume this was a conscious choice of words. Maybe the author is saying, "Nope, I am not going to use that awful word and, in fact, I'm going to use the non-offensive definition just to show how the word itself is twisted and gets its power only from the hate and racism of the people speaking the word." Other characters do use the term "Chinaman", which is appropriate for the time period. Since only the townspeople who don't like Hanna use the word in dialog, I think the text sufficiently conveys that the word is generally not acceptable and is derogatory.
The author does an excellent job incorporating lessons of race that are applicable in real life. Although most often, when Hanna was mistreated, she was forced to suffer in silence, I liked that when given an opportunity, Hanna spoke up and modeled how a person could deal with a microaggression while remaining calm and non-confrontational. The book even states that Hanna had "spent a lot of time thinking what she should say" in case she was faced with a particular insult, which I appreciated because in my own experience, in the heat of an offense, I can rarely think of an effective response.
The book also does a great job showing how Hanna herself, in a position of being at the mercy of others, was limited in what she could do; it was important that she have white allies who were willing to do the hard work of having the conversations that could truly change minds. The author even makes a point to show how standing up to others is a daunting and seemingly impossible task for a single person, but becomes doable with the support of just one other person. Again, in this example, the author is careful to show that the right approach did not come quickly and easily, but rather, took a lot of consideration and thought, planning and practice.
I appreciate that Hanna's story includes interactions with Native Americans. I don't know how students learn about America's westward expansion now, but I clearly remember being in middle school and learning about Manifest Destiny as a fact of history. It actually feels like a relief to know that young readers today have access to narratives that re-frame the events of this period from a non-white perspective. Hanna ties her experience with Native Amerians to her overall understanding of American society, thinking, "I used to think only of how white people treated Chinese people. Now I know it's about how white people treat anybody who isn't white." (p. 157)
Besides race, this book also addresses loss. Hanna needs to come to terms with the death of her mother, keeping her memories and love for her mother strong, even while her father moves them far away from any place that would remind them of her.
I am impressed, too, in the way this book handles an assault. Hanna being a victim of physical violence (written in a very age appropriate way) might seem like one too many issues being tackled, but it's a realistic possibility. The event and the aftermath are not dwelled upon; readers get a glimpse of how a physical assault can affect a person's thinking and behavior. I think it's a worthwhile inclusion, it provides a point of reference for young readers to process abuse.
A couple minor things made me rate this book 4 1/2 stars instead of 5 stars. At one point, a character declares that "it was Koreans who had invented chopsticks". (p. 51) I am no scholar of Asian history, but I turned to Google, and every resource I could find on the history of chopsticks credits China with their invention. The assertion was made to show the character's pride in being Korean, but since it appears to be inaccurate, I'm concerned that young readers may accept it as fact, and I wonder why it was included, instead of some other undisputed Korean achievement.
Also, a great deal is made in the book about how Mr. Harris had to write to the federal government to ask whether or not Hanna is legally allowed to attend the same school as everyone else. A lot of events hang on this question, yet we don't get an answer. (In San Francisco in the 1880s, Chinese children attended Chinese-only schools, and during segregation in the South, Chinese children were considered colored and barred from white schools.)
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