about the book
Fourteen-year-old Mehrigul wants desperately to be in school, but her family needs her on the farm. The longer she goes without an education, the more likely she will end up in a dark, unhealthy Chinese factory, from where she might never return. To avoid what she thinks is her fate, Mehrigul weaves baskets to sell, but few people ever buy from her.
Then one day an American woman comes along and gives her a ridiculous sum of money for just a single basket. What’s more, the woman promises to return in three weeks for more! But Mehrigul faces a tough time of work. With storms, hurting hands from farm work, and her father’s ire to work through, how can she ever get enough baskets done in that time?
Will Mehrigul’s work be enough?
about the author
If her English teachers from high school and college found out that Josanne la Valley had published a book, they would be greatly astonished. Josanne grew up reading only assigned books and struggled to put anything down on paper. Instead she focused on singing and playing her bassoon, and when she graduated with a few degrees, she moved to New York City and got paid to sing!
Singing did not bring a steady income, though, which is why when Josanne became a mother she decided to become a professional fundraiser for arts organizations. That job allowed her to travel all over the world, including to China and East Turkestan, where she met a young girl selling peaches out of a basket. That experience became the inspiration for The Vine Basket. In order to tell the story, Josanne reinvented herself again, getting a degree in writing to go along with her ones in music. She hopes she has many more stories to tell!
Source:
Author website
Also by Josanne La Valley:
Factory Girl. Clarion. January 2017.
read more!
Chu Ju’s House by Gloria Whelan
Chinese law states that a family can have only two children, and it is Chinese cultural tradition that there be at least one boy. So when Chu Ju gets a baby sister instead of a brother, she knows her parents will send the girl away. Instead, Chu Ju volunteers to leave, secretly, to make a life for herself, and for her sister, on her own.
Red Butterfly by A.L. Sonnichsen
Abandoned as an infant in China, Kara was taken in by an American woman without a valid visa, who refuses to return to America without Kara. But now the Chinese government has deported Mama and sent Kara to an orphanage. How can the government prohibit the only mother she’s ever known from adopting her?
Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier by Ying Chang Compestine
If Ming’s father cannot prove to their town’s Political Officer that the terra-cotta army of Emperor Qin is hidden in the hills around them, then he will be sent to the Maoist labor camps. Ming helps his father search, learning the history of China as he does, and learning to be brave as he faces the traps and dangers of the ancient emperor’s tomb.