Customer Reviews

Thief of Hearts (Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1995)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thief of Hearts by Laurence Yep is a book based on heart warming tales and mixed-race characters within the novel. As Yep had once said, "Probably the reason why much of my writing has found its way to a teenage audience is that I'm always pursuing the theme of being an outsider -- an alien -- and many teenagers feel they're aliens."

Since this book contains an outsider named Hong Ch'un, i believe that many people will enjoy reading this novel and will be able to compare their real life experiences with the character in the book. I truly recommend this novel to people who had troubles on their first day at school, to some people who have troubles reassuring their life and to people who had once came across problems that were hard to face for them.

This delightful book is about Stacy, 13 who is Sino-American. Stacy's mother Casey, and her great-grandmother or Tai-Paw whom many readers have "met" in "Child of the Owl" are Chinese and her father is American. Stacy is a popular 8th grader and has a regular group of friends.

Stacy's father works with a man from China named Mr. Wang. He tells Stacy that Mr. Wang's daughter will be attending school with her. Mr. Wang's daughter, Hong Ch'un 13 is rude and spiteful to Stacy from the time they first meet and even calls her a racist name in Chinese. A kind boy named Victor Li very reluctantly translates the term for her. A boy named Dwight picks up the racist banner and taunts Stacy with the offensive term. For the remainder of that first day in school with Hong Ch'un, Stacy becomes self-conscious of her Eurasian heritage and appearance. She feels her blond hair makes her stand out from other Asian students and her Asian features and coloring make her stand out among her Western peers.

To make matters worse, a teacher tells her to escort Hong Ch'un because he feels their Chinese heritage would make them a natural fit. When small trinkets belonging to other kids turn up in Hong Ch'un's backpack, she is naturally everyone's main suspect. In fact she is their ONLY suspect and when Stacy defends her, her friends feel she is defending Hong Ch'un because they are Chinese.

The girls don't get along even after Stacy defends Hong Ch'un and to make matters worse, Stacy's mother tells her that Hong Ch'un's alleged thefts are payback for Stacy being rude to her. Stacy tells her that Hong Ch'un called her a racist slur and the tide shifts in her favor. Instead of defending Somebody Else's Child, Stacy's mother finally defends her! However, they are facing another very real crisis - Hong Ch'un has run away!

Stacy's Tai-Paw, whom readers got to know in "Child of the Owl" is ready to offer practical suggestions on what to do next. First, they have to go to Chinatown as that is where the Thief of Hearts has left a trail of clues! They all rush through the streets of Chinatown to try and find the clues that will lead them to Hong Ch'un and whoever the thief is.

Stacy's Tai-Paw is also impacted by the thefts. A pin she gave to Stacy is missing, among one of the several items that were taken. Stacy and her Tai-Paw share a secret: they know that the pin is filled with ink that will stain the hands of whoever takes it as the thief won't have prior knowledge of how to handle it safely.

In time, things get sorted out. The best part of the story was when Stacy, upon discovering the thief asked her classmates to forgive the person for taking their things. This book is populated with strong characters and covers serious topics, such as racism. Stacy's mother tells her about the racism she experienced when she married someone who was not Asian. Stacy's Tai-Paw tells her about many of their Asian relatives who have interracial families. Stacy, instead of feeling like she is caught betweeen two vastly different cultures begins to celebrate her Eurasian heritage and see that she has a real bonus - two very rich cultural backgrounds which she can proudly claim.

Thief of Hearts is about a girl named Stacey whose father works with a man from China Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang's daughter Hong Chun is from China and she is very rude to Stacey in the beginning. Stacey is part American and part Chinese. She gets her mother's Asian eyes and gets her fathers blond hair. Hong Chun and Stacey start to fight verbally in the car ride on the way to school. Stacey and Hong Chun have to share lockers, go to the same classes and have the same lunch period together. After lunch they start to become nicer to each other and walk back to Stacey's locker. But when Stacey opens her locker she sees all the stuff that her friends have been looking for. During the day Stacey's friends Jeff and Sylvia have lost their precious belongings. They blame Hong Chun and for stealing their things. So Hong Chun runs away to china town and Stacey her mother must find her. I like this book because it shows about the Chinese culture and how you shouldn't judge someone on there appearances.

The Thief of Heart multicultural book!

Stacey's dad works with at a company with a Chinese guy, Mr. Wang. His daughter, Hong Ch'un, is the same age as Stacey. Before school starts, they meet. Stacey has to show Hong Ch'un around the school and they have to share a locker. When Hong Ch'un and Stacey go to their locker after school to pack up, Hong Ch'un finds something that doesn't belong to her in her backpack. Well, Jeff and Sylvia (Stacey's friends) had lost something that day. Jeff lost a wound up kangaroo and Sylvia lost a good luck charm. Now everyone blames her for stealing their things, but she really didn't. How would you feel if you were blamed for something that you didn't do? I would feel very upset and mad. Then Hong Ch'un ran away to go back to Chinatown where she lived. After they found out that Hong Ch'un was gone, Stacey, her mom, Casey, and her mom, Tai-Paw went looking for her. When they got to Chinatown, they went to Mr. Jeh's house. He sent faxes and he made phone calls to people to keep an eye out for Hong Ch'un. Do you think they will find Hong Ch'un? I think they will. Will they find out who really stole Jeff and Sylvia's things that they lost? They might find out who stole the stuff, but it depends on who it is though. I did like it because it teaches you not to steal things from people because it hurts their feelings and makes you feel guilty. If you like different cultural books, then you would like this book.

I can't say it was something I liked, that would be a lie. I thought it was dull and pointless, except for the legend. I would have to give this book a three star rating because NOTHING happens. For those who like to read real life exaggerated, go ahead, I'm just not the type. On with the story. Stacy was your average middle school, having lots of friends and a little trouble at home. Everything is shifted around though when a friend of her dad's, Mr. Wong, and his family from China comes to live in the United States. As soon as Stacy meets his only daughter Hong Ch'un trouble starts and are annoying each other after five minutes. At school after lunch and a miserable morning Hong Ch'un is found with little knick-nacks that are worthless except from the people that lost them. For some reason Stacy defends Hong Ch'un and is then discriminated for the first time in her life for being Chinese. After what was probably the worst day of her life she finds out that Hong Ch'un never went home that night. With the help of her mother and grandmother she finds out that Hong Ch'un ran away to China town. On there visit to China town to find Hong Ch'un, stories are revealed, family ties are found, but will they find Hong Ch'un? Who really stole the stuff and why? Read to find out if you're interested.

Thief of Hearts
By: Laurence Yep
Reviewed by: J.Lau
Period: 6
The book Thief of Hearts is about a half Chinese half American girl that is very popular at school until another Chinese girl comes to her school. The new Chinese girl's name is Hong Ch'un and is very protective of herself so no one liked her. When special things are stolen from people at school and turn up in Hong Ch'un's backpack, everyone blames her of being the thief until Stacy stands up for her then everyone started thinking that she was no different from Hong Ch'un. Both Hong Ch'un and Stacy's feelings are hurt but they plan to find the real thief. So Stacy's Tai-Paw makes up a trick to get the real thief. Stacy finds out that the real thief was Karen (one of her friends) and has her apologize for everything.
I liked this book because it teaches about friendship and family.
The part about friendship that I liked was when Stacy went back to school the next day and found out whom the real thief was. After the water fight with Jeff Stacy realized that the heart pin given to her from Tai-Paw was gone. The pin had a substance on it that if you touched it, it would make a exploding noise and leave color on your fingers that wouldn't come off. She ran into bathrooms looking for someone washing their hand with a stain on them. She finally found Karen in the janitor's bathroom. Stacy found out why and instead of hating Karen she learned to treat all her friends equally." And suddenly Karen was crying and hugging me."
The part that I liked about family is when Stacy realized that her mom was learning to understand Stacy. After Stacy's mom came back from sending Hong Ch'un home, she told Stacy to go to bed. Stacy didn't want to so her mom told her not to stay up too late. "I jumped up from my chair. "Mom?" When she had turned around, I hugged her. "Thanks."" They finally started to understand each other and stop fighting and that's how a real family is supposed to act.
My favorite part of the book is when Stacy and Hong Ch'un finally become friends. Everyone at school found out that the thief really was Karen so they started to like Hong Ch'un. After school that day Hong Ch'un went up to Stacy and said thank you. When she asked what she could do to repay Stacy, Stacy said to forgive Karen and try to be her friend. So Hong Ch'un said that she would and that she wanted to be Stacy's friend too. So in the end everything turned out great.

The book The Thief of Hearts by Laurence Yep is a wonderful book about a Chinese girl with strong opinions. A girl named Hong Ch'un moves with her family from China to America. The other protagonist named Stacy was forced by her parents to become friends with Hong Ch'un. When they got to school Hong Ch'un was accused of stealing. This leads them back to Chinatown and back to a different time... You should read this book because it had an interesting plot and it gives you history of China Town. In the beginning, the book was giving you the main perspective of the girl, Stacey. In the end you begin to see the point of view of the grandma and the mom. It also gives you history of China Town and China. You do not realize it is history until you finish the book. It is not boring history because it is intertwined with the plot of the story. Although this is a wonderful book, there are some negative things about it. In the beginning the book was just introducing the characters and it was not going anywhere fast. Once you got into it and met the characters, it was much better.

Stacy has grown up in her neighborhood thinking that she is the same as everyone else. Being Chinese-American she realizes that she is different. Yep does a great job of capturing the feelings and emotions of Stacy who has to deal with these issues of being different.

Adolescents who are also in similar situations can identify with the problems that Stacy face. Students can identify with the character trying to find herself and who she is.

I enjoyed reading this book and I cannot wait for Yep's next one.

There is a 1/2 american 1/2 Chinnese girl named Stacy. She has a normal life and is treated fairly. Soon a girl named Hung Chun comes to her schoo from China. A girl frames Hung Chun for stealing valuables. She soon runs away to China Town in San Franisco because she's sad and mad.