Mei’s work as the daughter of the cook of a Sierra Nevada logging camp keeps her busy, but she spends her free time telling the younger kids stories about Auntie Po, the elderly Chinese woman version of Paul Bunyan. But life as a Chinese American in the years after the Chinese Exclusion Act can’t be peaceful, and as trouble arises in the camp and Mei starts to feel a growing attraction towards her best friend, Bee, Auntie Po comes alive in a way that Mei never could have expected.

Review

This has got to be one of my favorite graphic novels. Not only do I love water color illustrations, but the story is so touching and it discusses a historical time period and situation that I’ve never seen represented in middle grade fiction.

I chose this book for today because May 10, 1869, marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad, which was built mostly by Chinese immigrants. Though this book is about logging and not railroad building, it acknowledges the long history of Chinese American laborers who shaped what the U.S. is today.