Landed

This noteworthy and impressive picture book tells a true immigration experience from the early 20th century. The author's father-in-law, Lee Sun Chor, sailed from China to San Francisco with his father, a Chinatown merchant. But like other Chinese immigrants, Sun was detained at Angel Island for weeks, until he could be interrogated by immigration officials. While Sun was a "true son" of a Chinatown shopowner, many other immigrants came to America as "paper sons," posing as sons of merchants or U.S. citizens. It was the only way under the Chinese Exclusion Act for Chinese to immigrate legally. Sun studied hard for the interrogation, but when he's asked which direction the nearest neighbors' house back in China faces, he answered, "I don't know." Sun's poor sense of direction was in danger of sending him away from his father and brothers! Stellar storytelling and realistic watercolor paintings make this disturbing chapter of American history accessible without either sentimentality or bitterness. Twenty-first century children can learn a great deal from plucky Lee Sun Chor's story in "Landed," as well as Milly Lee's excellent author's note about Chinese immigration. Highly recommended. (A version of this review appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly.)