Lichee Tree [Hardcover]

Ching Yeung Russell (Author), Christina Russell (Author), Christopher Zhong-Yuan Zhang (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In the late 1940's in southeastern China, ten-year-old Ying can't wait for her lichee tree to bloom so she can sell the fruit for money to help her family.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7. Ying, the heroine of First Apple (1994) and Water Ghost (1995, both Boyds Mills) now contends with problems that even her formidable energy and resourcefulness cannot overcome. She lives with her grandmother, Ah Pau, in a rural village in Southern China. Although the adults try to protect Ying, she learns that a sinister man nicknamed Ghost Walk wants her lovely cousin Ah So as his second concubine. Only after Ah So disappears and Ying finds a bloody shirt stashed behind the door does her grandmother tell her that her cousin ran away to Canton with her true love, after he was severely beaten by Ghost Walk's henchmen. Ghost Walk extorts money and property from Ying's family in revenge. Her uncle's store is forfeited, as is their house, with Ying's beloved lichee tree. Life in this isolated village is vividly depicted through specific details about friends, school, food, work, and play. While the notion that a single strongman can terrorize a village might seem extraordinary, Ying's need for knowledge, safety, and security are poignantly familiar. Ying's maturing love for Ah Pau, whose strength and practical wisdom holds the family together, forms a more realistic narrative trajectory than the plot, which comes to a rather implausible?yet satisfying?conclusion. More complex than Russell's earlier books, this new title is valuable for its engaging heroine and its unique setting.?Margaret A. Chang, North Adams State College, MA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-7. In a sequel to First Apple (1994) and Water Ghost (1995), 10-year-old Ying, who lives with her grandmother, uncle, and cousins, faces new challenges. The lichee tree planted for her as a symbol of hope when she was small is ready to bear fruit. She dreams of selling the fruit and traveling to distant Canton, a place she imagines to be full of exotic sights and people. But when a greedy landowner wants to make her older cousin his concubine and destroy Ying's family, the tree takes on a different significance. This story about a girl's coming-of-age amid family secrecy and the social turmoil of China in the 1940s is both realistic and lyrical. Its characters are beautifully realized, and in spite of their distant backdrop, they have a universal appeal. Shelley Townsend-Hudson

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press; 1st edition (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563976293
• ISBN-13: 978-1563976292
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,555,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ching Yeung Russell is the author of four novels based on her childhood growing up in China - First Apple, Water Ghost, Lichee Tree, and Child Bride - as well as the picture book Moon Festival. Her latest book, Tofu Quilt, is the story of her struggle to become a writer from the age of twelve. Ms. Russell was born in Guangdong, China and later moved to Hong Kong. A graduate of Hong Kong Baptist College, she worked as a freelance writer before marrying an American and emigrating to the United States. She and her husband, Phillip K. Russell, whose photographs illustrated her first published work, A Day on a Shrimp Boat, are the parents of two grown sons, Jonathan and Jeremy. Find out more about Ching Y. Russell at her website: http://chingyeung.homestead.com.