Homesick My Own Story: My Own Story (Isis Large Print for Children Cornerstone) [LARGE PRINT] (Hardcover)

by Jean Fritz (Author), Margot Tomes (Illustrator) "IN MY FATHER'S STUDY THERE WAS A LARGE globe with all the countries of the world running around it..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lin Nai-Nai, Miss Crofts, Miss Williams (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Fritz's Newbery Honor-winning memoir of growing up during a turbulent time in China's history is "rich in the telling observations of sights, sounds and people," said PW. Ages 8-12. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review
"Fritz draws the readers into scenes from her youth in the turbulent China of the mid-twenties. . . . A remarkable blend of truth and storytelling." --Booklist, starred review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Cornerstone Publishing (Va) (January 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557360707
• ISBN-13: 978-1557360700
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,457,702 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's no place., February 15, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Homesick (Novel) (Paperback)

A really remarkable book. Jean Fritz is author of many an exciting children's biography. If you've read "Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?" or "Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?" then you know her works already. Turning her talents towards a slightly more recent history, Fritz takes a good long look at her own life. Having grown up in China in the early 1920s, this is a story of a child trying to discover where she fits in.

First of all, you have to admire Fritz's candor. The very first thing she does is state in the Forward that she considers this a fiction. Though the facts are true here and there, the author has taken some liberties with time and memory. She obviously cannot remember everything that happened perfectly, so she has filled in the gaps as best as possible. Though, she points out, "it does not feel like fiction to me. It is my story, told as truly as I can tell it". THANK YOU, Jean Fritz. How many books do we read where the author claims that everything within the book is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, while taking wild leaps in narrative and interpretation? Finally, we have an author that admits that much of this book may be considered fiction, though she herself remembers it as fact. Such honesty is admirable, and exceedingly rare in non-fiction writers.

As for the story itself, Fritz is very good at what she does. The writing here is superb. Living in a very sketchy time in China's history, little Jean was in the unfortunate position of living in a country where foreigners were finally not being tolerated with much kindness any longer. Often times Chinese peasants rail against Jean for being the kind of "foreign devil" that is a bane to their country. Fritz never condemns these people, and even makes note at the back of this book the reasons behind their dislike and distrust. China was a country that was continually being divided into smaller and smaller pieces by the invading colonists. Neither does the character of Jean ever forget that the servants who work for her are human beings as well. Her parents often do fall into the master-servant manner of thinking, a fact that Jean objects to. They do not learn much about the world in which they live. They instead attempt to recreate their own American lives in a foreign land. But Jean knows that there are aspects of Chinese life that she vastly prefers to the life of her parents. The fact that she recognizes this is impressive. The fact that she can relay it years after the fact in this book, is astounding.

If I have any objections to this book at all they are directed not at the author, but at the illustrator. Margot Tomes has her points. She is not necessarily a bad illustrator. But in this particular book her pictures are superfluous and unnecessary. Sometimes they even touch upon the offensive without really going there. While Fritz never condemns the native Chinese for their opinions, Tomes draws them looking sneaky or sordid at inappropriate times. One such example is in a scene where Jean's servants feed her cat outside, not knowing she's around. The scene in the book is rather touching. Until this time, Jean was half afraid her cook was trying to poison the family. Knowing him to be a person capable of caring for her cat (as he says, "A cat is a cat. There are no foreign cats, no Chinese cats, no capitalist cats, no Communist cats. Just cats") she no longer fears his food. Yet the picture accompanying this text shows a shifty eyed servant peering suspiciously over his shoulder as the cats eats. Unnecessary. Somewhat offensive.

Fritz ends this book with a series of photographs displaying her family, friends, and where she lived in China. Combined with the book, these serve as an excellent document about a time little recorded in either adult or children's fiction. Using a unique perspective culled from her own life, Jean Fritz has written one of the most interesting books about the Chinese/American experience existing today. It is an honorable and impressive piece of work.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a beautifully real book, April 10, 1998

By	Caroline K. Poon "rare reviewer" (Brookline, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Homesick: My Own Story (Yearling Book) (Paperback)

Homesick: My Own Story is one of those rare books that feel entirely true. So many times an author's memoir is written "for" a specific audience, so that it takes on the tone of what the readers expect or are hooked by more than by what's true, but Jean Fritz's account of her childhood in China feels absolutely accurate, as if she is writing down the girl she once was. I found the novel an interesting read when I first read it, and when I read it again upon moving to Shanghai, I found it familiar. Even though so many years have passed, many things are the same, here and all over the world. A different sort of story for the un-narrow-minded, Homesick is the kind of discovery that we should all make about ourselves.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jean Fritz has done it this time-for sure, December 5, 2003

By	Lucilla Etana (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homesick (Novel) (Paperback)

I read this book this year, when my mom sent me a box of books to camp over the summer. All the rest were Dear Americas so this was the first one I picked up. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I read during softball and got hit on the head. I read during dinner and stained my favortie shirt. I tried to read dujring instructional swim but my counselor took the book away from me. I read under the covers and I got into trouble when my division head came in. I finished it in under eight hours. It's the best non-Dear America book I've ever read. It tells a very interesting story, full of humor and wit. Jean Fritz is an incredibly talented writer, who managed to cover two years time in an average-sized book. Each chapter is a story all its own and also funny. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a really good historical fiction/nonfiction story.