Search Results for: "by andrea cheng"
Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet by Andrea Cheng, woodcuts by the author
Absolute details surrounding the life of Dave the Potter are limited and uncertain. What remains of his life story almost two centuries later, is scattered with uncertain words, including ‘sometime,’ ‘about,’ ‘believed to be,’ ‘might,’ ‘possibly,’ and other such noncommittal qualifiers. The few surviving documents prove an enslaved teenager was bought by the Drake family, co-owners of Pottersville Stoneware Manufactory in Edgefield, South Carolina, in whose service he became a talented potter whose creations have survived, in small numbers, and become museum-worthy art pieces.
As if paralleling the sparse details of Dave’s life, Andrea Cheng replicates that sparseness in her slim novel-in-verse; she echoes the poetic etchings Dave added to his pottery by enhancing her verse with etched woodblock prints of her own. The result is a gorgeous, contemplative, artistic memorial to a creative life that survived unspeakable hardship while creating lasting, even subversive, beauty.
Dave’s considerable skill – recognized and lauded … and exploited – cannot save him from the horrors of slavery. His first wife was sold, and later his second wife and her two sons taken from him, as well. He himself is bought and sold within the Drake and related Landrum families. And yet, although literacy is illegal among slaves, Dave is taught to read and write, which enables to etch his name (his objections, his miseries, his screams) into the wet clay and the guarded words he can never say out loud: “horses mules and hogs – / all our cows is in the bogs – / where they will ever stay – / till the buzzards take them away =.”
As much as I’ve appreciated, learned from, and enjoyed Cheng‘s titles over the years (I think I’ve read all but four of her almost two dozen books), this, her latest, is clearly, undoubtedly, most definitely my favorite thus far. Here’s the irony: the subject of Etched in Clay just might be the furthest from her personal experience. Cheng has written numerous books inspired by her Hungarian heritage (Marika, The Lace Dowry, The Bear Makers), although she’s better known for her titles highlighting the Chinese American experience (she’s been part of a hapa Chinese American family since college) including The Key Collection, Shanghai Messenger, Only One Year, and The Year of the Book; Clay is definitely her first, and thus far her only, book with the history of American slavery at its core. So much for ‘write what you know.’ Every so often, talent just trumps all.
Tidbit: In the ending “Author’s Note,” Cheng credits Leonard Todd and his book for adults, Carolina Clay: The Life and Legend of Slave Potter Dave, for sparking her initial interest in Dave’s story, and later for “helping me so much with this project.” For interested readers, Todd’s website is a treasure trove of further information. The Smithsonian, by the way, owns two of Dave’s pieces (!); click here to see one of his poem jars collected by the National Museum of American History.
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2013 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Biography, .Nonfiction, .Poetry, African American, Chinese American
The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Abigail Halpin
Fourth-grader Anna Wang is going through those tortuous tween years. Her longtime best friend Laura is busy chasing after Abigail and Lucy who have more social clout. She’s uncomfortable admitting to friends that her mother cleans homes in “one of those high rises … [w]ith a view of the river” while she’s studying to become a nurse. She wouldn’t mind changing her last name to Anna Brown or Anna Smith, although she realizes that ”then my face wouldn’t match my name.” She can’t understand Teacher Zhen in Chinese school and isn’t so thrilled with going to class anyway.
What saves Anna from tough times are books. From My Side of the Mountain to From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler to My Louisiana Sky, Anna is – most of the time – pretty content with her literary companionship. She also keeps some great human company with Ray the crossing guard, Ms. Simmons her teacher, Mr. Shepherd whose apartment her mother cleans on Saturdays, and her new friend Camille at Chinese school. And, in spite of Laura’s fair-weather mistakes, Anna at least realizes (with a bit of nudging from her mother) the importance of being a good friend.
Andrea Cheng, who’s written over a dozen titles for young readers, tells another heartfelt story of growing up Chinese American. Abigail Halpin‘s lithe, whimsical line drawings add just the right feel to Cheng’s sincere, honest words. Although Cheng herself is the child of Hungarian immigrant parents, she’s been APA by affiliation for decades – her husband is Chinese American, their children hapa – and has written multiple books featuring convincing, spunky Chinese American protagonists. In spite of my high regard for Cheng’s work, I admit to being disappointed in finding errors here in her latest, even before the story starts; while I don’t speak Chinese, my aging brain has retained enough kanji from my almost-PhD (in East Asian Literatures and Languages) to recognize Chinese writing mistakes…
At the bottom of the “Pronunciation Guide,” for example, are two characters for ‘happiness’ – or ‘xing fu (幸福).’ Where the first character ‘幸’ should be, is instead “FU” written in English so scrawled as to seemingly (strangely) be mistaken for a Chinese character. On page 43, the three Chinese words should be translated as ‘pumpkin, black cat, witch’ to match the characters above (which are currently listed erroneously as ‘witch, pumpkin, black cat’).
Do these errors (and no, I didn’t scour the rest of the Chinese characters throughout the book) affect the quality of story? Probably not. Will most readers notice? Again, probably not … unless, like Anna, they, too, are going to Chinese school and working hard to learn their characters (what irony!). That said, given Cheng’s own literary stature, surely her editors could have found one person among over a billion native speakers (and readers) of Chinese to do a quick check …?
Am I wrong to expect this much? I’m just saying …
For more of Cheng’s noteworthy titles on BookDragon, click here.
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2012 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Fiction, Chinese American
Only One Year by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Nicole Wong
Sisters Sharon and Mary are shocked when their mother tells them that their two-year-old younger brother, Di Di, will be sent to China to live for a year with their grandparents. “‘A whole year?’” they ask incredulously. Mama explains that the girls are older, heading into fourth and first grade, their father needs to stay late at his architecture job, and she herself is starting a new job at the junior high school. “‘We cannot leave him with a stranger,’” she tries to explain to the girls when they suggest day care or a babysitter. “‘A babysitter is not like Nai Nai [grandmother]. For a babysitter, Di Di is a job. But for Nai Nai, he is a grandson.’”
So off Di Di goes on the big airplane with Mama, who returns home alone. Sharon and Mary miss him muchly at first, but their busy lives make the year pass quickly. When Di Di returns home to America with Nai Nai, Di Di’s readjustment to his parents and siblings is not without tears. Little by little, the siblings find their way back together again, with the fivesome-family finally restored.
Ever prepared for readers’ reactions, Andrea Cheng, who writes often about families in flux, adds in the “Author’s Note” at story’s end, “The idea behind this story may seem unusual, but it is not as uncommon as you may think. Some parents in the United States might find it hard to imagine being separated from their young children, but attitudes about raising children are sometimes quite different in other countries, especially in Asia and Africa.” She offers a heartfelt essay about why parents – especially immigrant parents – might choose long-term separation from their children, and challenges older readers to think about different family structures. She shares further thoughts in an interview available on her publisher (Lee & Low Books)’s site.
Cheng’s illustrator, Nicole Wong, who also did the touching art for Cheng’s Brushing Mom’s Hair, who gently captures the family just so in this latest title, mentions in her back-flap bio, “Wong was drawn to the story in Only One Year because it presents a Chinese American experience that is different from her own.” The family’s separation will definitely strike a chord with parents as they will share Sharon and Mary’s initial shock. But Cheng resolves her story with great care and understanding without judgment, which readers of all ages will undoubtedly appreciate.
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2010 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Fiction, Chinese American
Brushing Mom’s Hair by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Nicole Wong
Through a collection of sparse free verse, Cheng captures a family in crisis. Ann, not yet 15, can’t tell her friends that her mother just lost her breasts to cancer. But everyone seems to know already, asking after her mother and bringing chili with beans that Ann won’t eat.
Ann wishes she could just keep dancing or making pots to keep from thinking. Older brother Nick calls in from college while older sister Jane reads poems about turtles to their resting mother. Dad says people “… don’t get over things / that quick” while Ann worries “Maybe / you don’t get over them / ever.” But Ann’s mother will recover … as Ann finds great comfort in brushing her mother’s returning fuzz with a pink toothbrush: “It’s black, Mom, / and thick. / Here, feel this, / curly and soft / like a baby’s / fresh and new.”
Wong’s black and white detailed illustrations are gentle with muted energy. The twirling scarves, the potter’s wheel, the faraway telephone calls capture everyday moments as Ann and her family find their way back to recovery.
Readers: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Published: 2009 Continue reading
The Lemon Sisters by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss
A most heartwarming story of an 80-year-old woman who remembers the simple joys of her own youth with her two younger sisters, while watching three little girls enjoy a perfect snowy day.
Reviews: “In Celebration of Asian Pacific American Month: A Literary Survey,” The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2006
“TBR‘s Contributing Editors’ Favorite Reads of 2006: These Are a Few of My Favorite Things … in Print, That Is …,” The Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2006
Readers: Children
Published: 2006 Continue reading
Filed under ..Children/Picture Books, .Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Shanghai Messenger by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Ed Young
As eleven-year-old Xiao Mei’s is about to embark on a trip to Shanghai to visit extended family, her beloved grandmother tells her, “You are my messenger. Look everything. Remember.” As a Chinese American hapa, Xiao Mei reluctantly arrives alone in China, but she heads home filled with lovely memories and heartfelt messages.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, September 29, 2005
Readers: Children
Published: 2005 Continue reading
Filed under ..Children/Picture Books, .Fiction, Chinese American, Hapa
The Lace Dowry by Andrea Cheng
Asian American-by-marriage, Andrea Cheng explores her Hungarian roots in this poignant story about 12-year-old Juli, whose mother decides Juli must have a most magnificent lace tablecloth as her marriage dowry. Juli, who befriends the daughter in the lacemaking family, will stop at nothing to try and help her new friend from losing her sight from eye strain.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, September 29, 2005
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2005 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Fiction, European
Honeysuckle House by Andrea Cheng
Told in the alternating voices of two Chinese American girls – American-born Sarah and recently arrived Ting – Cheng captures the story of an unlikely friendship. While Sarah and Ting, both fourth graders, may seem to share some physical characteristics, they couldn’t be less alike … or could they actually have something in common? While Sarah is devastated over her best friend’s sudden move, Ting mourns the life she left behind with her extended family in Shanghai. Together they forge new bonds, discovering unlikely similarities about each other along the way.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, April 30, 2004
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2004 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Fiction, Chinese American
The Key Collection by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Yangsook Choi
A young Chinese American boy is saddened when his beloved grandmother moves to San Francisco to live with her doctor daughter, who is better able to care for her. She leaves behind a collection of keys to which the matching locks are long gone, but the memories still linger. And in spite of the 3,000 miles of distance, the family finds ways to be together. A touching tale of the strong bond between a grandparent and grandchild.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, November 7, 2003
Readers: Middle Grade
Published: 2003 Continue reading
Filed under ..Middle Grade Readers, .Fiction, Chinese American
Goldfish and Chrysanthemums by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Michelle Chang
A touching story about a young girl who builds her grandmother a small goldfish pond surrounded by chrysanthemums, in response to a letter from China announcing that the grandmother’s childhood home has been torn down.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, June 27, 2009
Readers: Children
Published: 2003 Continue reading
Filed under ..Children/Picture Books, .Fiction, Chinese American
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Subscribe to RSS
