The Bone Collector's Son [Hardcover]

Paul Yee (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

It’s 1907, and Bing’s father makes a living in Chinatown by digging up the bones of the dead before sending them back to China for a proper burial. Bing hates helping his father with his work, and things go from bad to worse when father and son discover that Mr. Shum’s skull is missing from his grave. Almost immediately, Bing and his father have a string of bad luck. Bing is convinced that it’s caused by Shum’s ghost, angry because of his missing skull. Eager to get away from his stern father, Bing accepts a job as a houseboy at the home of a famous white boxer. But even there he can’t get away from ghosts, as it turns out that the boxer’s house is haunted. Only by overcoming his fear of ghosts will Bing be able to calm the spirits that are disturbing the living—and the dead.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. From the first scene, set in a graveyard, Yee's latest novel is a gripping story of a boy caught between physical and spiritual worlds. Bing is angry with his father, a compulsive gambler who has one of the worst jobs in Vancouver's Chinatown: he collects the bones of Chinese immigrants' relatives and ships them back to relatives in China. Bing loathes the frightening, ostracizing work, so he is delighted when he finds a job as a houseboy in a wealthy home. Unfortunately, his employer's house has ghosts of its own, and Bing, with help from friends in Chinatown, must summon his pride and courage to pacify the antagonistic spirits, living and dead, in his community. A few lengthy ghost stories, unrelated to the plot, seem purposefully inserted. Still, the chilly details enhance the central story's suspense, and as in Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories (2002), Yee skillfully contrasts a strong sense of the supernatural with brutal, all-too-real racial prejudice and the haunted, unsettled yearning of immigrants longing for roots. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Paul Yee lives in Toronto, Canada. Much of the material in The Bone Collector’s Son is based on the research and volunteer work he did in Vancouver’s Chinatown and while working for the City of Vancouver Archives. His picture books and novels have won numerous awards, including Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Ghost Train.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 137 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761452427
• ISBN-13: 978-0761452423
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,384,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant tale, August 12, 2006

By 

Chrix (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bone Collector's Son (Hardcover)

I have just read the story and I loved it. It inspires me to look at adversities in life with tenacity and to move on no matter how hard the going may be.

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical Chinatown, Ghosts and Growing Up, March 20, 2009

By 

C. June Wolf (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bone Collector's Son (Hardcover)

I loved this book. I read it with my 13 year old nephew over a weekend while he visited. Both of us were rivetted. The realistic view of a time and subculture I know little about, the rich story-telling and parallel ghost stories, the coming of age of this young boy, and the shifting relationship with his father, all made for excellent reading. I am eager to read more by this writer.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good pieces, weak whole., March 21, 2007

By 

T. D. "A teacher and reader." (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bone Collector's Son (Hardcover)

While it is a fast young adult read, The Bone Collector's Son didn't quite come together for me. There is a lot in play: father-son distance, cultural traditions, courage, the power of belief, a mystery to be solved, obstacles overcome. The several Chinese ghost stories were quite charming. But when the various bits come together, they don't work together. The disjointed parts don't flow together: they distract from each other. So while the book has virtues, it just isn't that good a read.