Leigh Chen Sanders a half-white half-chinese teen has lost her mother to suicide and she is positive that her mother visits her in the form of a bird. Follow Leigh in her journey of grief and loss as she remembers the past and works through the present by visiting her maternal grandparents in Taiwan and learning about her mother, discovering family secrets and discovering herself.
Grade 4 - 6: Mia and her parents, immigrants from China, are excited to have jobs and a place to live when they start managing a motel. But their new boss won’t make repairs on his building or pay the family what they have earned. In her efforts to improve her English, Mia learns what a well-written letter can do to help her family.
This historical fiction is set in San Francisco, in 1954, when Chinese Americans and immigrants had to live under increased paranoia, racism, and suspicion for having Communist ideas. Lily is interested in discovering what’s outside her Chinatown home. Her parents warned her not to leave their immediate neighborhood, but Lily ventures forth to various places, such as the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar. This is where she slowly discovers herself and a relationship with her first white friend, Kathleen. All of this means that Lily may end up in dangerous situations and more than she bargained for.
Gr. 4-6: After flunking sixth-grade English, basketball prodigy Stanford Wong must struggle to pass his summer school class, keep his failure a secret from his friends, and satisfy his academically demanding father.
Although Moon and Christine share a Chinese-American heritage, Moon is nothing like the kids Christine is used to be being around. Moon is creative and funny and she has visions of celestial beings. They learn how to be friends and what friendship means, especially after tragedy strikes. An absolute gem about a friendship with the new kid, accepting differences, and learning to love ourselves.
