Laurence Yep

Set in the mid-1960s, 12-year-old Casey knows little about her Chinese background and only identifies herself as an American. When she moves to Chinatown in San Francisco to live with her maternal grandmother, she feels alienated and isolated, though she gradually comes to accept and understand her Chinese background. Written for young adolescents, this award-winning book is part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles.

When Craig Chin's family moves from San Francisco to small-town Concepcion, California, he thinks he'll never fit in. And his father won't stop pushing him to succeed in sports — a hopeless goal. But his life begins to change when odd old Uncle Quail shows him a secret sea garden.

Stacy Palmer almost never thinks about being Chinese American, As far as she's concerned, she's just like everyone else. Then Hong Ch'un comes to Stacy's school from China. Stacy and Hong Ch'un don't exactly get along, but when Hong Ch'un is accused of stealing and runs away, Stacy bows she must try to find her. With her family's help, Stacy searches the tiny back streets of San Francisco's Chinatown. There, she gets a glimpse of what it was like for her Chinese mother, growing up in a different culture.

The Weaving Maid wove robes of silk for Heaven, but when she met the Cowboy, she abandoned her loom to be with him. But Heaven would not allow this, and put the Milky Way in between them. Silk binds the lives of four girls from different generations with the fate of the Weaving Maid.

Twenty traditional tales from Chinese traditional literature have been gracefully retold in this attractive collection. The stories introduce animals that talk, ghosts, and more, all punctuated and enlivened by illustrations.

In order to save her father, Seven, the youngest daughter, agrees to marry the dragon. As in the familiar European version of Beauty and the Beast, the dragon turns into a handsome prince and he and Seven live happily until she becomes homesick and leaves to visit her family. Fluid text and realistic illustrations combine to shape an elegant book.

Based on his father's immigration files from Angel Island, Laurence Yep and his niece Dr. Kathleen S. Yep bring us the story of a ten-year-old boy from China who must prepare for his interrogation at Angel Island. The young boy memorizes everything from the layout of his village to the number of doors in the house, and continues his study on the sea voyage to San Francisco with his father.

Henry and Chin both live in San Francisco, both are about eight years old, both adore “penny dreadfuls,” and both survive the 1906 earthquake. Chapters alternate between Henry and Chin’s narrations to provide a look at what happened in very different parts of the city on that fateful day. The story of destruction and survival is told from the perspective of two young boys.

In this fluid retelling of a Mongolian folktale, a simple shepherd named Mongke must pass three tests in order to marry the Khan’s beautiful daughter – not the least of which is the girl herself who is particularly taxing. Handsome watercolors evoke the setting and the difficulty of the challenges that Mongke must face.

Young Laurence didn't really where he fit in. He thought of himself as American, especially since he didn't speak Chinese and couldn't understand his grandmother, who lived in Chinatown. But others saw him as different in the conformist American of the 1950s. In this engaging memoir, the two-time Newbery Honor author tells how writing helped him start to solve the puzzle.