April 29, 2024
In a carefully researched account, Huahn traces a Chinese girl’s attempts to attend school in 1884 California. As part of the only Chinese family in her San Francisco–area neighborhood, Mamie Tape (1876–1972) and her siblings grow up playing with neighborhood children, and “I thought school would be the same.” When she and her mother arrive, however, they are stopped by the principal and told, “Your kind is not welcome here.” Tape’s parents push against San Francisco’s policy excluding Chinese children from its schools. The saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” repeats as the family takes step after step to ensure Tape’s education. While the school board keeps institutions segregated, the family wins the right for Tape to attend classes—“because of the steps I’d taken, there was now one public school where we were welcome.” A subdued palette of brown, maroon, and slate blue dominates Chan’s sometimes-wooden digital illustrations, which focus on classroom scenes as well as the Tape family’s well-appointed home. An author’s note and bibliography conclude. Background characters read as white. Ages 4–8.
April 19, 2024
Grades 1-3 This fictionalized account of the experiences of Chinese American Mamie Tape describes how she and her parents challenged the law barring Chinese children from public schools in 1880s San Francisco. As eight-year-old Mamie explains in the first-person narrative, doing so won't be easy, but she's bolstered by Mamma's words--"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." After Mamie is refused entry to school, her parents unsuccessfully approach the superintendent and eventually hire lawyers who argue Mamie's case before the California Supreme Court, which determines Chinese students have a right to go to school, though the school board complies by opening a separate public school for Chinese children. While it's not what Mamie hoped, for her and other Chinese children, it's a start. While the text is somewhat lengthy, the digitally rendered artwork enlivens, incorporating historical details, such as the characters' clothing and images of period newspapers. Extensive back matter offers more context about the facts of the case and the long road to school desegregation. An inspiring portrayal of the determination to enact positive change.
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