Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain

Good Fortune by Li Keng Wong is a great example of an autobiographical book. Li tells about her journey to "Gold Mountain" and the obstacles she faced as a Chinese girl in the United States. Her journey begins when Li's father has arranged for her, Mama, and her two sisters to come join him in Gold Mountain. They agree and are sent on a remarkable adventure half-way across the world. When they reach their destination, Li and her family have to endure the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Great Depression. To survive, her dad has no choice but to open up an illegal lottery shop. If he keeps getting arrested, all of them could be sent back to China. I liked this book because of the detail in every sentence. It really changed the way I thought about history in 1933. Once I started the book, I felt like I was with Li every step of the way. Yin A. Grade 6 Ms. Kawatachi

Li Keng Wong, Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain (Peachtree, 2006) I have never been a big fan of the memoir, and with the recent market glut, chances are, when one picks up a random memoir, one will end up opening the window and summarily ejecting it, unless one needs to line one's birdcage or is short of toilet paper. That said, every once in a while you get lucky. And while I don't think anyone will ever confuse Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain with deathless literature, at least it won't get mixed up with deathly boring literature, either. The majority of memoirs I've read recently have fed on the public's fascination with humiliation, of self and of others. And while Li Keng Wong went through some rather nasty stuff during the period of her childhood she relates here, she never gives into that tabloid sort of impulse. With that alone, she's already well ahead of the pack. It also helps somewhat that this is a book written for school-agers (I'd say middle school, or bright elementary school students); Ms. Wong gets down to brass tacks pretty quick, and then stays there, without any of the aimless meanderings one sees in recent works by, for example, Melissa P. (One Hundred Strokes of the Brush Before Bed) or Craig Thompson (Blankets). She's got a story to tell, and she tells it, and that's that. She also avoids the trap of overplaying her hand at any given time; this would be all too easy a thing to do, given that part of this memoir covers her stay in an interment camp courtesy of the Chinese Exclusion Act. But Ms. Wong writes of the stay in the detention camp as one more stopping place on the greater adventurous path her family took. I ended up a lot more fond of this book than I expected to be, and unhesitatingly recommend it. *** ½

Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain is the autobiography of Li Keng Wong. Born in the village of Goon Do Hung, Li Keng has never known her father, Baba, since he is working in Gum Saan (aka United States "Gold Mountain"). Along with her older sister, Li Hong, and her younger sister, Lai Wah, Li Keng's life is one of pleasant simplicity and anticipation. The family is waiting for Baba to write a letter telling them that he's returning to bring them back to America. When the letter finally arrives, there is much preparation as the family prepares to pass their interrogation on Angel Island. Because of the strict laws, the family must lie convincingly to officials in order to enter the country. Li Keng and her family hope that America truly is a place with gold-paved streets, but will the new land bring hope or disappointment? Li Keng's story covers a vast period of time. The first half of the book concentrates on the year before they come to America (1933), the second half of the book concentrates on the struggles, disappointments, and hopes once they arrive (1934-1941). The story is interesting, yet narrated unevenly. It is an honest portrayal of an immigration story--the hardships, poverty, etc. Still I would recommend this book as a good autobiography for younger readers in third to sixth grades.