Child of the Owl (Golden Mountain Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Laurence Yep (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 1977 | Series: Golden Mountain Chronicles

"I can't remember when Barney's story began but all my life I'd heard this story about how a little girl and her father were going to hit it big one of these days....I knew more about race horses than I knew about myself -- I mean myself as a Chinese."

Race horses aren't any help when Barney lands in the hospital and Casey is sent to live with Paw-Paw -- her maternal grandmother-in San Francisco's Chinatown. She's not prepared for the Chinese school, the crowds, the noise, the small room she has to share with Paw-Paw -- and she's not prepared for missing Barney.

But Paw-Paw tells Casey about Jeanie, the mother Casey never knew, about her true Chinese name, and about the story of the family's owl charm. This shows Casey that being a child of the owl means that sometimes, like this ancestral owl spirit, you can feel like a stranger, trapped in the wrong place, in the wrong time, even in the wrong body. And as Casey begins to understand the intricacies of Chinatown and the people who become her friends, she realizes that this, Paw-Paw's home, Jeanie and Barney's home, is her home too.

Laurence Yep's fine novel illuminates a rich world of truth, humor, and discovery.

‘San Francisco’s Chinatown of the early ’60s is the testing ground for [12-year-old] Casey who, in finding her roots, forfeits her faith in her compulsive gambler father.’ —SLJ. ‘Combines the chiseled fantasy of Dragonwings with the anxiety of growing up poor and nonwhite.’ —K.

Notable Children's Books of 1977 (ALA)
1977 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Fiction
1978 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Best Books of 1977 (SLJ)
1978 Jane Addams Children's Book Award
Children's Books of 1977 (Library of Congress)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An exciting and well-plotted story." (Starred review) -- School Library Journal

About the Author

Laurence Yep is the author of The Imp That Ate My Homework. He received Newbery Honors in 1975 for Dragonwings and in 1994 for Dragon's Gate.Mr. Yep lives in Pacific Grove, California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (April 26, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060267437
• ISBN-13: 978-0060267438
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,242,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurence Yep has been fascinated with tales of sibling rivalry from the day he was born. His older brother, Tom, chose his name Laurence - after a saint who died a particularly gruesome death. Laurence has been trying to get even ever since. Laurence Yep now lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife and is one of children's literature's most respected authors. His award-winning titles include Newbery Honor Books Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Starter Book Asian American Youth, June 14, 2003

By 

jess w. (south pasadena, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Child of the Owl: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1965 (Paperback)

I found this book on the shelf of my 5th grade classroom 14 years ago, and it completely changed my life. Never before and actually, never since, did I feel like I could relate to a character in a book like that. But, of course, reading it again when i was older, I don't relate to anything in the book other than the main character was a Chinese American female, and so was I.

As opposed to some other Asian American books for kids, I like this one particularly because it takes place in the US. While more 'multi-cultural' books try and relate back to China a lot, I liked this one because I find it a lot more relavant to the 2nd generation/3rd generation experience, and it also appeals to the curiosity people begin to have about their 'culture' when they start thinking about ethnic identity.

The strong parts about the book: The story is engaging, and even though it was written in the 1970's or 1960's, it doesn't seem dated. It's about a separated family, and Casey's a toy-boy who doesn't take a lot of crap, as opposed to some goody-goody. And the backdrop of Chinatown makes it pretty interesting and urban, and gives a good general historical background of Chinatown as an ethnic enclave, too. Also, if anyone is concerned about the politics represented in the book, as far as I can tell, there aren't any messages of advocating for a color-blind society or all multi-culti-feel-good sentiment which are characteristics I find frustrating about a lot of other 'books for Asian American youth'.

The weak parts about the book: I don't really like a lot of mythology, folklore or fantastic stories. I hated them as a kid, and I still really don't like it now. My least favorite part as a kid is the story about the spirit of the owl, and it still makes me weary. The book still implies filial piety, but to a degree which I think it's ok, mostly because of Casey's strong personality and inclination to rebel. Also, most Chinese American kids live outside of Chinatowns so the experience is a lot different and I haven't heard of too many books which sort of discuss either a more urban, or a more suburbian narrative that's pretty realistic and has good politics, too.

Nonetheless, I still pick up the book from time to time. I don't know a whole lot of other Asian American kids books, but as someone who turned out to be an Asian American major in college, I still need to pay tribute to the fact that regardless of whether in retrospect I think my life related, it very early on offered me the narative of a Chinese American female in the US, and the beginnings of understanding what it meant for me to be Chinese American.

Other Yep books have a little too much mysticism and folklore for my taste, but I do think Dragonwings offers a strong look at the history of Chinese Americans in California.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, superb, and other words of adulation, January 23, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Child of the Owl: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1965 (Paperback)

Here's the first sentence of "Child of the Owl":
"It was hard to understand Barney with the air tubes up his nose".

And from that sentence on it this book becomes one of the most readable I have ever encountered. Have you ever entered into a book, not knowing what to expect but suspecting that it's not going to retain your interest for very long? Knowing what little I did about "Child of the Owl", I walked into this gem of kiddie lit with more than a little trepidation. What I found was a story that was funny, touching, and ultimately informative. I'm naturally wary of books that are supposed to be "good" for children. That will teach them lessons about diversity while maintaining a sticky sweet didactic tone. But "Child of the Owl" isn't like that at all. Instead, it is honest-to-goodness gold.

The plot is especially good. Young streetwise Casey must leave her gambler father to live with her Grandmother in San Francisco's Chinatown for a little while. Laurence Yep has effectively written a tale that captures the spirit of a person never fully feeling as if they fit in. As the blurb on the cover of the books says, sometimes, "you can feel like a stranger, trapped in the wrong place, in the wrong time, even in the wrong body". What makes the book so eminently readable, however, is the care with which Yep has drawn upon his own experiences in 1964 Chinatown, to explain and examine Casey's reactions to life in that once tiny neighborhood.

Now if I was going to make a collection of Top Ten Children's Books Set In San Francisco, "Child of the Owl" would be number one. It would also be number one of Top Ten Intergenerational Children's Books and Top Ten Children's Books Containing Sarcastic Wisecracking Kids. Sorry Gilly Hopkins. Casey's got you beat. As a heroine she's funny, smart, and filled with reactions appropriate to a pre-adolescent. I highly recommend this book to any child wanting to learn more about the Chinese-American experience of living in America. The book speaks volumes to those living then and now. It is a book to be remembered.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As a child this was my favorite book!, July 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Child of the Owl: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1965 (Paperback)

This was an excellent book to read for me, as when I was six I lost my grandmother (chinese). Reading this book made me feel like she was still with me, in some way. I recommend it for everyone, but especially Asian-Americans as it looks a little at the roots of our heritage. Especally when it is so hard to see these days.