Eight original stories utilize elements of the history and culture of Chinese laborers in Canada and the U.S.A. Some of the fictions read like tall tales; others are literary ghost stories with unusual twists. The collection as a whole is quirky and imaginative in appeal. A single intriguing full-color, full-page painting illustrates each tale in an incomparable book. (Ages 9-12)

Winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, the IODE Violet Downey Book Award and the IODE National Chapter Award

Drawing on the real background of the Chinese role in the gold rush, the building of the railway and the settling of the west coast in the nineteenth century, noted historian and children’s author Paul Yee has created eight original stories that combine the rough-and-tumble adventure of frontier life with the rich folk traditions that these immigrants brought from China.

These tales are funny, sad, romantic and earthy, but ultimately, as a collection, they reflect the gritty optimism of the Chinese who overcame prejudice and adversity to build a unique place for themselves in North America.