Can Lee turn the prejudice and cruelty of others into friendship?
"Howard O'Laughlin, come sit beside Yung Lee," Miss Thompson ordered. Lee's stomach flip-flopped. Of all the people in the class, why did it have to be Howard O'Laughlin?" These seating assignments are permanent until the end of the school year," Miss Thompson continued.
Four years before, twelve-year-old Yung Lee's family had been killed in a rebellion in her native province, except her brother Yung Fong. Times are hard in China, and Fong is convinced that the only way to better their lives is to search for gold in California.
Lee does not want to leave China. She is happy living with the Conroys, missionaries who have taught her about Jesus Christ. But Fong insists that their little family must stay together. If he goes, she must go too.
In California Fong learns that finding gold is not so easy. And while Fong must worry about money, Lee myust endure the cruel teasing of the class bully, Howard. Can Lee turn Howard's prejudice into friendship? And when the Yung's money and gold are stolen, how will they live?
In The Journey of Yung Lee, Lee finds that showing God's love and kindness to our enemies can turn them into friends.
Judith McCoy-Miller is a Public Service Administrator for the state of Kansas. Mrs. Miller's interest in Chinese immigration was piqued several years ago when she came across a photo of young Chinese girls who had been reared at a mission home in California. Yung Lee is a composit character based on her research into female Chinese immigrants.
