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A review by daumari
Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
5.0
More historical fiction with ABCs! Boarding school hijinks!Genuinely good female friendships, and a mean girl who doesn't twirl her mustache and becomes a fully developed person!
I am delighted to live in an era of #ownvoices work that include expanding to periods of history people just aren't as aware of- especially under the current administration I feel like I repeatedly bring up the Chinese Exclusion Act and smaller state-level laws that were designed to box in 'undesirable' immigrants, and here it is, right on the page (my other longtime favorite historical YA is Laurence Yep's [b:The Traitor|25261|The Traitor (Golden Mountain Chronicles, #4)|Laurence Yep|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348823964s/25261.jpg|2675977] about the Rock Springs massacre). We were the first people this country legally denied on the basis of nationality, but thanks to the persistence of some, there are families like mine with long roots.
Mercy Wong is tough and persistent- in 1906 when women's worth is largely still defined by marriageability and having children, Mercy finds a book about becoming a businesswoman and dreams of having a global tea-shipping empire. But, as educational opportunities are limited for Chinese, especially girls, she plans on entering the illustrious St. Claire's school for girls. She's admitted, but only if she pretends to be a Chinese heiress which leads to some hilarity as students & faculty ask her about China... when, as someone born here, she has no idea what it's actually like.
Once the earthquake hits, we genreshift a bit into survival mode and don't shy away from the tragedy and chaos, but with a satisfying ending. I do wonder if Stacey Lee will write a historical fiction in the future dealing with the aftermath: because the records for Chinese Americans burned in this earthquake's fires, many illegally immigrated as 'paper sons', claiming that they were born here but their birth certificates were burned. Immigration officials countered this by detaining would-be children and grilling them and their alleged parent for days, corroborating interview answers checking for slipups on # of stairs in a house, who your neighbors were, etc. I really would love to see some Paper Children historical fic, because there's so much drama you can play with while also tying to modern concerns.
I am delighted to live in an era of #ownvoices work that include expanding to periods of history people just aren't as aware of- especially under the current administration I feel like I repeatedly bring up the Chinese Exclusion Act and smaller state-level laws that were designed to box in 'undesirable' immigrants, and here it is, right on the page (my other longtime favorite historical YA is Laurence Yep's [b:The Traitor|25261|The Traitor (Golden Mountain Chronicles, #4)|Laurence Yep|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348823964s/25261.jpg|2675977] about the Rock Springs massacre). We were the first people this country legally denied on the basis of nationality, but thanks to the persistence of some, there are families like mine with long roots.
Mercy Wong is tough and persistent- in 1906 when women's worth is largely still defined by marriageability and having children, Mercy finds a book about becoming a businesswoman and dreams of having a global tea-shipping empire. But, as educational opportunities are limited for Chinese, especially girls, she plans on entering the illustrious St. Claire's school for girls. She's admitted, but only if she pretends to be a Chinese heiress which leads to some hilarity as students & faculty ask her about China... when, as someone born here, she has no idea what it's actually like.
Once the earthquake hits, we genreshift a bit into survival mode and don't shy away from the tragedy and chaos, but with a satisfying ending. I do wonder if Stacey Lee will write a historical fiction in the future dealing with the aftermath: because the records for Chinese Americans burned in this earthquake's fires, many illegally immigrated as 'paper sons', claiming that they were born here but their birth certificates were burned. Immigration officials countered this by detaining would-be children and grilling them and their alleged parent for days, corroborating interview answers checking for slipups on # of stairs in a house, who your neighbors were, etc. I really would love to see some Paper Children historical fic, because there's so much drama you can play with while also tying to modern concerns.