Barme', Geremie and Jaivin, Linda. New Ghosts, Old Dreams. New York: Random
House, Inc., 1992. Barme' and Jaivin trace the dissent for democracy in China
that led to the Tiananmen Square rebellion. The book speaks to the fact that even
after the mass protest was crushed, there remains a spirit of rebellion. The authors
contend that the book's diverse voices are rarely heard in the West.
Dodwell, Christina. A Traveller In China. New York: Beaufort Books Publisher,
Dodwell travels to the remoter parts of China's vast territory, visiting many
ethnic minority groups, inhabiting these areas and still exhibiting a distinctive
lifestyle.
Fritz, Jean. China Homecoming. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. Jean Fritz
was a young girl who was born and lived in China till the age of thirteen. As a grown
woman, Fritz had a passionate desire to return to China. History had drastically
changed her hometown of Wuhan. As she revisited her childhood home, she was
greeted by several Chinese families who occupied her old home. She heard firsthand
how a surgeon's hands were cursed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. A
very moving story.
Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1997. Although
written for older children, the book gives teachers great insight into the Cultural
Revolution when one became a criminal for having intelligence and a wealthy family
invited persecution. The book gives a child's eye view of this terrifying time in
twentieth-century history.
McLenighan. Enchantment of the World: China. Chicago: Children's Press, l983.
The history of China to 1949. The book contains beautiful colored photographs of
paintings, artifacts, people and buildings of China. A great reference book.
Pan, Lynn. Tracing It Home. New York: Kodansha International, 1993.
Lynn Pan tells a story of a family caught up in the turmoil of China during the years of
Japanese occupation and the cultural revolution.
Pine, Red and Mike O'Connor, Eds., The Clouds Should Know Me By Now: Buddhist
Poet Monks of China. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1998. The poem written by a
Buddhist Poet Monk, "Seeking But Not Finding the Recluse," can be found on page
24. (Recluse will be translated Old Man so that the first graders are able to get a
clearer picture of the meaning recluse or hermit.)
Wong, Jade Snow. No Chinese Stranger. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.
Wong relates stories of growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown, and her travels
throughout China with her husband, Woody.
Wong, Jan. Red China Blues: My Long March From Mao to Now. New York:
Doubleday/Anchor Books, 1996. Wong tells her story when she was a believer of the
Cultural Revolution. Born in Canada, Wong enrolls in the Beijing University in 1972
and works at the Number One Machine Tool Factory. However, after six years she
became aware of the harsh realities of Chinese Communism and returned to the West.
