My Name Is America: The Journal of Wongming-Chun, a Chinese Miner

I really liked this diary; I thought it was the best in the series. Runt could have been any moderately bright eleven-year-old kid, though he was rather liberal, making friends of all nationalities. I can't say I was very fond of Runt's brother Blessing, but Runt's uncle was a really nice guy and the Fox was quite cleve. The diary told a very entertaining story. I'm glad Runt decided to stay in America instead of returning to China for good!

I think this is a wonderful book because it had alot of excellent description and deep meaning. Wong Ming-Chung traveled from China all the way to the Golden Mountain to find gold with his uncle. It is a story about survival of a young boy as he travels to America and the difficulties he encounters. It is a very exciting book with a surprising ending.

The Journal of Wong Min-Chung is a very good historical fiction book!!!Dispite what someone else said in a reveiw it tells alot of chinese as much as I need to know for now anyways!!!Runt is a young boy from Tiger Rock,China yup and well they hear talk of the golden mountain(The gold feilds in Cali),and they think it sounds so great like you'll make millions since the guest(That's what those relatives of those who dig gold are called)are very rich from there relatives working on the mountain!!!So Runts stubborn Uncle Stone with much fighting with Runts father which is also Uncle Stones brother he is on his way to America claiming to the clan he's bringing home melon sized nuggets!!! Of course that doesn't happen...But Runt's brother Blessing was supposed to be sent to the golden mountain to be with his Uncle,but there parents didn't want him to go so they forced Runt to go instead,and Run suddenly thought his parents hated him for his own parents were willing to risk Runt's life over Blessing's!!!There is so much more to this wonderfully crafted book on the American gold rush,if you want to learn about the gold rush you should read this book!!!

Young Bright Intelligance (who's usually called Runt because of his small size) and his family live in grueling poverty in rural China in 1851. Hoping to make a name for himself and earn a fortune, Runt's uncle sets out for the gold fields of California. Soon, Runt joins him. He is horrified by barely endurable conditions on the ocean voyage and by the cruelty with which the American miners treat the Chinese. And he soon learns that mining is mostly working long, hard hours for just a small ammount of gold. And the predjudice of the Americans soon escalates into violence. Still, through it all, Runt holds on to his hope of discovering gold and earning a better life for his family. Told through Runt's diary, this book showed what a young immigrant miner in California during the gold rush might have seen, encountered, thought, and felt. An excellant addition to the My Name is America series.

I loved this book. It allows the reader to live through the gold rush. It would be especially appropiate for fourth graders studying California history and Chinese immigration. I highly recommend it.