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Asian Heritage in Canada
Authors
Yee, Paul
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Paul Yee is best known as a writer
for children and young adults, but he has also written short
stories and non-fiction for an adult audience. A native of Spalding,
Saskatchewan, Yee grew up in Vancouver's Chinatown. He received
a bachelor's degree and an M.A. in Canadian history from the
University of British Columbia. His thesis is entitled: Chinese
business in Vancouver, 1886-1914. He worked as an archivist
with the City of Vancouver and then the Archives of Ontario
before moving into the area of immigration policy with the government
of Ontario. Toronto has been his home since 1988. |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Bamboo
Illustrated by Shaoli Wang.
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2005.
Publisher's Synopsis (from its website)
In a Chinese village, Bamboo, a simple farmer, falls in love with a peasant girl, Ming, and soon they are married. To celebrate the wedding, the newlyweds plant a grove of bamboo.
When Bamboo goes to the New World to seek his fortune, his sister-in-law, Jin,
makes life a misery for Ming, taking the best part of the fields, the water
buffalo and most of the tools for her own family. How is Ming able to till the
land and make the fields flourish all on her own? And will Bamboo ever return
safely from across the ocean?
Awards and Honours
2006 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize (BC Books Prizes) (Nominated)
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Fiction (Juvenile, Chapter book)
Blood and Iron: Building Canada
Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2010.
Series: I Am Canada
Publisher's Synopsis
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Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
The Bone Collector's Son
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2003.
Publisher's Synopsis
In Vancouver of 1907, thirteen-year-old Bing-wing Chan must
conquer his fear of ghosts as his father’s gambling
debts force him to dig for human bones in a graveyard and
then to work as a houseboy in a haunted house.
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Fiction (Juvenile, Picture
book)
The Boy in the Attic
Pictures by Gu Xiong.
Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998.
Publisher's Synopsis
Seven-year-old Kai-ming Wong and his family have just moved
from their village in China to a big city in North America.
Everything is new and different, and Kai-ming is lonely. ...
But one day Kai-ming meets a mysterious boy his age living
in the attic of his house...
This evocative ghost story ... reminds us that change requires
courage, and that friendship has great power to heal.
Awards and Honours
1999 Sheila
A. Egoff Children's Prize (Nominated)
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Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
Breakaway
Toronto: Douglas and McIntyre, 1994.
Toronto: Greenwood Books, 1997 (cloth).
Publisher's Synopsis
Kwok-ken Wong is a good student and a great soccer player.
So even though he comes from a poor farming family that has
to struggle to make ends meet, his future should be bright.
But in Depression-ridden Vancouver in the 1930s, racism has
a strong grip. Can a young Chinese man, no matter how gifted,
make a good life for himself?
Awards and Honours
YALSA Best Book for Young Adults |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
The Curses of Third Uncle
[Illustrations by Don Besco]
Toronto: Lorimer, 1986.
Publisher's Synopsis
It is 1909, and Lillian Ho's father has mysteriously disappeared.
With no money coming in, Lillian's scheming Third Uncle has
announced he will sell the family business, and Lillian, her
mother and sisters will all have to return to China.
Lillian wants to stay in Canada, where she was born. She
must find her father. But how? ... When Lillian finds a hidden
letter, she fears her father may be in danger.
Awards and Honours
1987 Sheila
A. Egoff Children's Book Prize (Nominated) |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Short stories)
Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories
Illustrated by Harvey Chan.
Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2002.
9th floor PS8597 .E3 D42 2002
Publisher's Synopsis
These ten original ghost stories dramatize the history of
Chinese immigration to North America -- from the poor village
men who first came searching for gold in the late 1850s to
the new immigrants who arrived from Hong Kong in the wake
of the Cultural Revolution. These stories describe the resilience
and struggle of people trying to make new lives for themselves
in a strange land. But these are also ghost stories, a popular
narrative form in China.
The tales describe the plights and dreams of men and women,
rich and poor, greedy and good, young and old. Together, they
tell the tumultuous story of 140 years of Chinese immigration
to North America, creating a New World mythology of immigrant
stories.
Awards and Honours
2002 Book of
the Year for Children Award (Nominated)
2002 Kiriyama
Pacific Rim Prize Notable Book - Fiction
2003 Sunburst Award
for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic (Nominated)
2004 Golden Oak Award--Ontario
Library Association (Nominated) |
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Fiction (Juvenile,
Picture book)
Ghost Train
Pictures by Harvey Chan.
Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1996.
9th floor PZ7
.Y365 G56 1996
Publisher's Synopsis
Left behind in China by her father, who has gone to North
America to find work, Choon-yi has made her living by selling
her paintings in the market. When her father writes one day
and asks her to join him, she joyously sets off, only to discover
that he has been killed.
Choon-yi sees the railway and the giant train engines that
her father died for, and she is filled with an urge to paint
them. But her work disappoints her until a ghostly presence
beckons her to board a train and go on a fantastical journey.
Awards and Honours
1996 Governor
General's Literary Award, Children's Literature (Text)--English
(Winner)
1997 Amelia
Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award (Winner)
1997 Toronto
IODE Book Award (Nominated)
1997 Ruth
Schwartz Children's Book Award-Picture Book (Winner)
1998 Prix Enfantasie (Swiztzerland)(Winner; for French language
version: Le train fantôme)
Other Information
Ghost Train was adapted for the
stage by Betty Quan. The play
opened at the Young Peoples Theatre in Toronto, now called
the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, and ran from
April 18-May 17, 2001. |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Picture
book)
The Jade Necklace
Illustrated by Grace Lin.
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2002.
Publisher's Synopsis
The 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 also 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 to the New World to be a servant. |
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Fiction (Juvenile)
Learning to Fly
Vancouver: Orca Book Publishers, 2008.
Publisher's Synopsis (From its website)
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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Fiction (Juvenile)
Money Boy
Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2011.
Publisher's Synopsis
It's bad enough fitting in as a young Chinese immigrant in a new country. But what happens when your father finds out you're gay and kicks you out of the house?
How tough can life be on the street?
Ray Liu is about to find out... |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Picture
book)
Roses Sing on New Snow: A Delicious Tale
Pictures by Harvey Chan.
Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1991.
Toronto: Groundwood Books, 1994 (Meadow mouse pbk.)
9th floor PZ7 .Y365 R67 1994
Awards and Honours
1992 Ruth
Schwartz Award (Ontario Arts Council)(Winner)
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Fiction (Juvenile)
The Secret Keepers
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2011.
Publisher's Synopsis (from its website)
In this novel set in San Francisco's Chinatown before and after 1906, young Jackson Leong has to not only cope with the ghost of his brother who died in the earthquake, but also the mysterious ghost of a young woman who is haunting the family nickelodeon. A masterpiece of historical fiction that will take the reader on a roller coaster journey into the past. |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Chapter book)
Shu-Li and Diego
Pictures by Shaoli Wang.
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2009.
Publisher's Synopsis (from its website)
In this sequel to the popular Shu-Li and Tamara, Paul Yee recounts the adventures of Shu-Li and her classmate Diego as they face the challenge of taking care of Baxter, a neighbour’s dog. The two friends face disaster when Baxter runs away and they have to break the news to its owner.
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Fiction (Juvenile, Chapter book)
Shu-Li and Tamara
Pictures by Shaoli Wang.
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2007.
Publisher's Synopsis
Shu-Li's family moved to Canada from China two years ago. They now run a Chinese deli in Vancouver's Commercial Drive area. Her classmate, Tamara, recently moved into the neighbourhood. The two girls become good friends, but an ugly rumour threatens their relationship. |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Picture
book)
A Song for Ba
Pictures by Jan Peng Wang.
Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2004.
Publisher's Synopsis
Wei Lim's father, Ba, is a singer in the Chinese opera. ...
As shrinking audiences put the opera company in financial
danger, Ba finds himself forced to take on female parts. He
has trouble accepting that he can no longer play a great man.
But he has even more difficulty learning to sing in the high
voice required. ... Finally, Wei comes to the rescue. |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Short stories)
Teach Me to Fly Skyfighter!: And Other Stories
Illustrated by Sky Lee.
Toronto: Lorimer, 1983.
Publisher's Synopsis
With Samson's butterfly kite flat on the ground and her own
kite soaring, Sharon thought of shouting, "Okay, Samson
Wong, you big-mouth. Let's see you fly your wonderful kite.
Big wings will do it every time, right?"
But now that she had her chance to get even with Samson,
Sharon didn't feel like fighting. ... For the first time in
her life, Sharon had something Chinese that she was proud
of and she was enjoying herself!
Four stories about Sharon and her friends Samson, John and
Christine, kids who live in the same neighbourhood and have
interesting stories to tell.
Awards and Honours
1983 Canadian Children's
Book Centre Our Choice Selection |
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Fiction (Juvenile, Short stories)
What Happened This Summer and Other Stories
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2006.
Publisher's Synopsis (from Hushion House spring 2006 catalogue)
This new collection of short stories by Governor
General's Award winning author Paul Yee
confronts the secret lives [of] Chinese-Canadian
teenagers as they battle with their parents
over schooling, careers, sexuality, religion
and integration into North American culture.
Once again Paul Yee offers a rare glimpse
into the conflicted world of Chinese youth,
some of whom are locally born while others
have recently immigrated from Hong Kong,
Taiwan and China. |
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Non-Fiction
Chinatown: An Illustrated History of the Chinese Communities of Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax
Toronto: Lorimer, 2005.
6th floor FC106 .C5 Y428 2005
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Non-Fiction (Juvenile)
Struggle and Hope: The Story of Chinese Canadians
Toronto: Umbrella Press, 1996.
6th floor FC106
.C5 Y43 1996 |
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Criticism and Interpretation
Lim, Huai-Yang. "Representations of Class Identity in Chinese Canadian Literature." Ph.D. diss., University of Alberta, 2005.
Available from Proquest Dissertations and Theses
McKellar, Kyla. "Little House on Gold Mountain: A Micro-analysis of Racialization and Colonialism in Children's Historical Fiction." M.A. diss., University of Ottawa, 2002.
Available from Proquest Dissertations and Theses |
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