A Common Bond

 

Story with background of the Rock Springs Massacre in Wyoming of 28 Chinese Miners.

 

In the Wyoming territory in 1885, life is tough, espeically for Michael Purdy.  An outcast in the small town of Rock Springs, he's either bullied and bloodied or ignored.  Michael feels he migh as well be a ghost in this rough coal-mining town.

 

But life is even tougher for Joseph Young, a Chinese American boy and Michael's secret ally.  Despised by the white miners, the Chinese work in dangerous conditions, struggling against poverty and racism.  Still, Joseph yearns to be a "real American" = a dream his father and the other Chinese workers can't understand.

 

When the town's growing resentment toward the Chinese explodes, Michael and Joseph must test their unlikely friendship and trust each other with their lives.

 

Essential reading for all students of America's complex history and culture - Kirkus Review

An exciting book of two boys at odds with their own kind and with their worlds - KLIATT

 

Laurence Yep won the Newberry Prize for Dragon Wings and has written many books on Chinese related themes.

Softcover, for ages 10 and up.