The Bone Collector's Son (Hardcover)

by Paul Yee (Author) "Bing froze at the sight of two dark figures floating among the gravestones..." (more)
Key Phrases: Uncle Won, Lee Dat, Red Checks (more...)

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

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 137 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (October 30, 2005)
• 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.com Sales Rank: #1,523,239 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 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

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

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

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.