Book Review: Bronze and Sunflower

BRONZE AND SUNFLOWER by Cao Wenxuan is tells a timeless story of tragedy and friendship during China’s Cultural Revolution.

Beautifully translated from Chinese, this story of rural Chinese life follows two children who overcome hardship to form a deep friendship. When Sunflower becomes an orphan, she’s taken in by the poorest family in the village. Her new brother Bronze has been traumatized and doesn’t speak. Despite their shared tragedies, a deep friendship blooms reflecting the power of family. The book concludes with an historical note and author’s note.

Librarians will find this quiet, middle grade book appealing to children who enjoy historical fiction, Asian literature, and stories of friendship set in rural settings.

Published by Candlewick on March 14, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

Website Review: The Cyrus Tang Hall of China

THE CYRUS TANG HALL OF CHINA from The Field Museum is an online exhibition exploring the history of China.

Users begin by exploring the exhibition. The exhibition is divided into an introduction, five galleries, and two interactives exploring the diverse landscapes, ethnicities, social statuses, and lived experiences across time and space. Artifacts in the exhibition range thousands of years.

Each highlighted artifact includes background information, visuals, and background information.

The interactive elements allow users to explore information about China through a timeline and map video as well as a 360 virtual exhibit exploration tool.

Librarians will find the online exhibition to be an engaging way to experience the history of China. A supplemental website contains educational materials that focus on object-based learning approaches. These tools connect well with information skills and information inquiry activities in the library.

To visit the website, go to http://chinahall.fieldmuseum.org/.

To visit the educator toolkit, go to http://www.fieldmuseum.org/disc…/on-exhibit/china/educators/.

Book Review: The Way Home Looks Now

THE WAY HOME LOOKS NOW by Wendy Wan-Long Shang follows Peter Lee as he struggles with the accidental death of his brother, his mother’s overwhelming grief, and his traditional Chinese father’s role as Little League baseball coach. Set in 1972, this outstanding work of realistic fiction masterfully addresses key societal issues of the times including Vietnam War protests, political connections with Taiwan, and the Women’s Movement from a child’s perspective.

Realistic fiction for middle-grades tends to be polarized between humorous school stories and deadly serious issues tomes. Shang masterfully balances the popular topic of baseball with a compassionate examination of family grief and social issues of the 1970s. Few books effectively address the impact of the women’s movement on everyday life in America. Shang is successful in weaving this theme throughout the work without being preachy.

With a Lexile measure of 650L but an interest level through middle school, the author provides a easy-to-read book that can be enjoyed over many grade levels. Librarians can look forward to a broad audience for this book. Baseball lovers will be attracted to the action sequences, while history fans will enjoy the references to life in the 1970s. Teachers will enjoy using this book as part of a shared class experience.

Shang was awarded the Asian Pacific American Literature award for The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Look for THE WAY HOME LOOKS NOW to be on the short list for this year’s award.

To learn more about the author, go to http://www.wendyshang.com/.

Published by Scholastic on April 28, 2015.