Li Jun and the Iron Road
Will be published approx. on 4. February 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
184 pages
978-1-4597-3142-4 (ISBN)
Description
CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens (Spring 2016) - Commended
From the award-winning movie comes a story of courage and forbidden love.
It's 1882 in southern China. Li Jun, a feisty homeless girl disguised as a boy called Little Tiger, works in a fireworks factory and yearns to sail across the ocean to the mysterious Gold Mountain in faraway British Columbia to find her long-lost father and fulfill her promise to her dying mother.
She joins thousands of Chinese men blasting a path for the new railway through the "impassable" Rocky Mountains. There she faces danger, deceit, and prejudice at every turn. Then, defying all the rules, she falls in love with James, the son of the railway tycoon.
Should she reveal her true identity to him? Coming from such different worlds, could they make a life together?
From the award-winning movie comes a story of courage and forbidden love.
It's 1882 in southern China. Li Jun, a feisty homeless girl disguised as a boy called Little Tiger, works in a fireworks factory and yearns to sail across the ocean to the mysterious Gold Mountain in faraway British Columbia to find her long-lost father and fulfill her promise to her dying mother.
She joins thousands of Chinese men blasting a path for the new railway through the "impassable" Rocky Mountains. There she faces danger, deceit, and prejudice at every turn. Then, defying all the rules, she falls in love with James, the son of the railway tycoon.
Should she reveal her true identity to him? Coming from such different worlds, could they make a life together?
Reviews / Votes
Action and romance-what more do you want? Iron Road rivals The Pianist in significance...both stories give a face to those nameless and voiceless who perished. * Toronto Star * Li Jun epitomizes the feminist dream of equality. An important novel, essential reading for anyone interested in the early history of Canada. * The Honourable Dr. Vivienne Poy, Canada's first Chinese-Canadian senator * The novel's strength lies in its depiction of the miserable working conditions endured by the Chinese workers who built Canada's railways in the 1880s. As well, through the eyes of a young woman, readers see the discrimination against Chinese people in Canada and the circumscribed roles for women at that time ... [a] worthy addition to schools and public libraries. * Canadian Materials * History comes to life in this gripping page-turner as the spirited heroine searches for her father in Gold Mountain. * Arlene Chan, Chinese Historian and Author * This is the best kind of historical fiction, in which the story wells up through the actions of powerful characters, and stunning landscapes both in China and in Canada grip readers with terrifying possibilities that keep them glued to the page. * Resource Links * Ending with an exciting climax of discovery and reconciliation, Li Jun and the Iron Road vividly describes a darker time in Canadian history while one of our greatest technological achievements of nationhood was being created. * Canadian Teacher Magazine *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
Young adult
Reading Age: From 12 to 15 years, Interest Age: From 12 to 15 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 201 mm
Width: 127 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
181 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4597-3142-4 (9781459731424)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Anne Tait is a movie producer, a writer for stage, screen, and print, a broadcaster, and a casting director. She has cast feature films and major television shows including Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea, and Goosebumps. She won the Female Eye Film Festival Career Achievement Award, two Anik awards, the Victoria College Distinguished Alumna honour, plus the Canadian Gemini and the Rome and Dominican Republic Festival awards for her film Iron Road, and was nominated for an Emmy. She lives in Toronto.