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  • Carolyn McTighe

    The Sakura Tree (Northern Lights Books for Children)

    Alberta Children's/Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee, 2008

    CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens, 2008

    Three girls sent away by a father who wishes for them a more prosperous life.

      Once there lived three Japanese sisters:

      The eldest sister's name was Aki, which means autumn. She was named this because she was as graceful as the gold and red colored leaves that swirl gently to earth in the autumn breeze.

      The middle sister's name was Fuyu, which means winter. She was named this because her skin was as fair as the whitest winter's snow.

      The youngest sister's name was Haruko, which means spring. She was named this because her silky, black hair smelled of the sweetest spring blossoms.

    The gently eloquent tale follows the progress of three so-called "picture brides" who come to Canada in the early twentieth century, three girls sent away by a father who wishes for them a more prosperous life than he can provide in their hometown of Sendai. Reluctant as they are to leave home, the sisters are nonetheless obedient to their father_s wishes. Each takes with her one item that will remind her of their home. One brings a kimono, another a violin, but the youngest, Haruko, brings three seeds of the sakura tree.

    The sisters arrive on the shores of British Columbia, where their husbands await. Each joins the husband to whom she has been promised, and each has her own way of remembering the family and country she has left behind.

    Haruko plants the sakura seeds, each of which grows into a cherry tree. One spring, the blossoms swirl away in the wind, and are carried to the doorsteps of the two other sisters. The blossoms remind the sisters of Haruko and their Japanese home. Following the blossoms, they find Haruko's home and the three are reunited under the sakura trees to remember their lives together.

    This is a book about the meaning of family and home and an exploration of Japanese culture in Canada.

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  • Ian Wallace

    Chin Chiang and the Dragon's Dance (Chin Chiang & Dragon Dance CL Mkm)
    Chin Chiang has long dreamed of dancing the dragon's dance, but when the first day of the Year of the Dragon arrives and he is to dance with his grandfather, he is sure he will shame his family and bring bad luck to everyone.
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  • Paul Yee

    The Jade Necklace
    This story begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in South China where Yenyee and her family live. One night, her fisherman father vanishes in a ferocious storm at sea. But it is not only her father that she suddenly loses that day. Yenyee feels betrayed by the ocean, a friend she has trusted all her life, and betrayed by her family who then send her across the Pacific Ocean to the New World to be a servant.

    In this poignant story, two worlds-China and North America-come together. Inspired by the Wing Sang collection at the Vancouver Museum, author Paul Yee takes the reader on a magical voyage of love and forgiveness, of bravery and community.

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  • Paul Yee

    Learning to Fly (Orca Soundings)
    Jason is an outsider. A recent immigrant from China, he lives in a close-minded town with his mother and younger brother. Falling in with the wrong crowd, trying to fit in, Jason takes chances and ends up in trouble with the police. Holding on to his friendship with a Native boy, also an outsider, Jason finds he needs to fight to belong and to find a new home.
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  • Matt Gould

    Naomi's Road
    Based on the award-winning novel Obasan, Naomi's Road describes an often-forgotten episode in Canadian history. It tells the story of Naomi Nakane -- a little girl with "black hair and lovely Japanese eyes and a face like a valentine" -- and her Japanese-Canadian family during the 1940s, when Canada was at war with Japan.
    Naomi, her older brother Stephen, and their aunt are sent to an internment camp deep in the interior of British Columbia and then to a farm in Alberta. Through her eyes we see the effects of war as Naomi grows up in a world of hardship and prejudice. Yet throughout, she retains her essential hope and dignity.
    "The book sings. It is a lyrical and intensely moving account." -- The Toronto Globe and Mail
    "This is an important, painful story told with grace and sensitivity and lacking the easy sentimentality that would have dulled its polish. Great stuff." -- The Toronto Sun
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  • David Bouchard

    Dragon of Heaven: The Memoirs of the Last Empress of China
    Astonishing in their lush realism and symbolic depth, the color images in this book by award-winning artist Zhong-Yang Huang draw readers into the mysterious Forbidden City. This fictionalized memoir of Cixi, a former Imperial concubine who ruled behind the throne for nearly half a century, includes intimate details about daily court life and presents a sympathetic look at how this strong woman thrived in a male-dominated world.
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  • Paul Yee, Simon Ng

    Tales from Gold Mountain: Stories of the Chinese in the New World
    Eight unforgettable stories tell of the triumph of the human spirit despite the bitterness of daily toils. Elegant paintings brilliantly complement each magical story. ". . . Ng's cool, brooding full-page paintings have an intense presence that enhances the stories' exotic flavor . . . A book not to miss."--Booklist, starred review. Booklist Editor's Choice. 1990 Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.
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  • Paul Yee

    What Happened This Summer
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  • Deborah Hodge

    Emma's Story
    When Emma sets out to make a cookie family with her Grandma, the happy afternoon suddenly turns sad. The cookies are meant to look like her family, but hers is the only one with licorice hair and eyes. She doesn’t look like the others; does that mean she doesn’t belong?

    In gentle text, Deborah Hodge tells the story of one small girl’s adoption: the hopes and prayers of her Canadian parents, their trip to the other side of the world, their meeting with the new baby, and the very long ride home to the new family waiting for Emma

    Thousands of baby girls from China have been adopted by North American families. Although this lovely book tells the story of one such little girl, it is about much more than the logistics of adoption. It is about the many ways in which we can come together to form a family.
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  • Andrea Spalding

    Me and Mr. Mah
    When Ian's parents separate, he moves with his mother to the city, a thousand miles away from the prairie wheat farm he calls home. With no friends and a bleak moonscape of a backyard to play in, Ian has only an old shoe box of objects from his past life to keep him company. But after he peeks through the fence to the lush garden next door, Ian is inspired to start digging his own little plot. And when he meets Mr. Mah, the old man who owns the garden, Ian is surprised to learn they have a lot in common. Also displaced from the original home he misses, Mr. Mah keeps his own box of memories of his past in China. And as they share stories about their distant homes, Ian finds more than just a new friend - he finally discovers in himself the courage to accept change.
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  • Sheila Garrigue

    The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito
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  • Eric Walters

    War of the Eagles (pb)
    During World War II near Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Jed comes to better understand and take pride in his British and native Tsimshian ancestry through caring for an injured eagle at a military fort and losing his Japanese Canadian best friend to an internment camp.
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  • Ting-Xing Ye, William Bell, Ye Ting-xing

    Throwaway Daughter
    Grace Dong-Mei is adopted and taken to Canada. Watching the Tianenmen Square massacre on television prompts her to explore her Chinese ancestry and she begins to unlock the truth about what really happened to her almost 20 years before.
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  • Paul Yee

    Breakaway
    It is 1932. The only Chinese boy at his Vancouver school, 18-year-old Kwok-ken Wong is repeatedly stung by the racist remarks hurled his way by both classmates and teachers. Life at home isn't much easier, as his family struggles to make ends meet on a pig farm. Worse, Kwok doesn't get along with his father and is embarrassed by his family's circumstances. Kwok dreams of winning a university soccer scholarship. But he soon finds his way blocked, despite his demonstrated talent for the sport. Eventually, Kwok joins the Chinese community's soccer team and develops a sense of pride in his heritage and people. At the same time, he begins to understand and grow closer to his family, bridging a gap between worlds. Young readers will identify with the boy's struggle to prove himself, transcend adversity, and find a comfortable place in the world.
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