Outrun the Moon

Well paced historical fiction, with an alarmingly intelligent main character -- alarming not in her race (chinese, in San Francisco in 1906), or her ambition (to procure better education and pull her family out of poverty), but in her sheer, gutsy, bravado. I found myself cheering and biting my fingernails in equal measure, unsure how she could possibly succeed. Bold, smart, generous of spirit and bossy cheeked, Mercy is a heroine to get behind.

The story is also full of unexpected turns and growth that make the time and place come alive.

More historical fiction with ABCs! Boarding school hijinks!Genuinely good female friendships, and a mean girl who doesn't twirl her mustache and becomes a fully developed person!

I am delighted to live in an era of #ownvoices work that include expanding to periods of history people just aren't as aware of- especially under the current administration I feel like I repeatedly bring up the Chinese Exclusion Act and smaller state-level laws that were designed to box in 'undesirable' immigrants, and here it is, right on the page (my other longtime favorite historical YA is Laurence Yep's [b:The Traitor|25261|The Traitor (Golden Mountain Chronicles, #4)|Laurence Yep|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348823964s/25261.jpg|2675977] about the show more Rock Springs massacre). We were the first people this country legally denied on the basis of nationality, but thanks to the persistence of some, there are families like mine with long roots.

Mercy Wong is tough and persistent- in 1906 when women's worth is largely still defined by marriageability and having children, Mercy finds a book about becoming a businesswoman and dreams of having a global tea-shipping empire. But, as educational opportunities are limited for Chinese, especially girls, she plans on entering the illustrious St. Claire's school for girls. She's admitted, but only if she pretends to be a Chinese heiress which leads to some hilarity as students & faculty ask her about China... when, as someone born here, she has no idea what it's actually like.

Once the earthquake hits, we genreshift a bit into survival mode and don't shy away from the tragedy and chaos, but with a satisfying ending. I do wonder if Stacey Lee will write a historical fiction in the future dealing with the aftermath: because the records for Chinese Americans burned in this earthquake's fires, many illegally immigrated as 'paper sons', claiming that they were born here but their birth certificates were burned. Immigration officials countered this by detaining would-be children and grilling them and their alleged parent for days, corroborating interview answers checking for slipups on # of stairs in a house, who your neighbors were, etc. I really would love to see some Paper Children historical fic, because there's so much drama you can play with while also tying to modern concerns. show less

In this heartwarming historical fiction novel for young adults set in 1906 San Francisco, we meet Mercy Wong, a young woman of 15 who dreams of making something of her life in spite of the many prejudices against, and obstacles to, Chinese at that time. Like her previous book, Under a Painted Sky, this story also expresses the Chinese principle of yuanfen, which refers to the fate that brings people together to become a family.

Mercy is determined to get a good education and make some money. She wants to help her father, who works a grueling sixteen hours a day in the laundry, and to ensure that her sickly little brother Jack doesn’t have to work there also. In addition, Mercy wants to live up to her mother’s high expectations for show more her.

She manages to talk her way into a white high school (schools were segregated then) because there were no high schools in Chinatown, the twelve block area where the Chinese were restricted. She was doing well until her conflict with her roommate, Elodie Du Lac, came to a head. It seemed she would be expelled, but the date was April 18, when the great earthquake of San Francisco struck. It had an estimated magnitude of 7.8. (It was reported that this violent quake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and inland as far as central Nevada.) Devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days.

Chinatown was destroyed, with Mercy’s mother and brother caught in the conflagration. She didn’t know the fate of her father, who might have been out on business, or might not have. Nor does she know if the boy she likes, Tom Gunn, is safe. Supposedly, he left on a trip.

The girls gather in Golden Gate Park along with other survivors, and they are not only traumatized, but hungry and without homes. The soldiers don’t help much at first - they are more focused on policing people. Mercy observed, “It’s just like Chinatown and all the laws passed to contain us. We were never the enemy. The enemy was our country’s own fear.”

Mercy decides to lead the girls on a mission to help others in need. But first she has to overcome the prejudice against her race, as well as the pain of her own losses.

Discussion: The story illustrates the animosity towards the Chinese at the time; just 24 years earlier, President Arthur had signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring any more Chinese from immigrating. But as Mercy observed, “[t]he trembler moved us in mysterious ways, shifting underlying assumptions about social rank and order.” The quake made all of them rethink what was important, at least for a while.

Evaluation: There are so many good aspects to this coming-of-age story, foremost among them the friendships that develop between Mercy and the Caucasian girls at the all-white-but-Mercy boarding school. Mercy is a wonderful character: strong, resourceful, brave, and spunky, but also charming rather than abrasive, as many young adult female heroines are. Mercy also has a great sense of humor, as expressed through a combination of drollery and aphorisms from Chinese culture. Mercy has been brought up to understand the world through Chinese philosophical and astrological precepts, and while a part of her dismisses them as superstitions, a part of her pays attention. Her mother told her “you can’t outrun the moon,” but as Mercy allows, “she never said anything about outflying it.” show less

4.5 stars. This was one of the best JF/YA books I’ve read in a while. The characters and story really caught my attention and made me want to keep reading. I didn’t give this 5 stars because of the plausibility of some of the situations (which the author also acknowledges), but these same situations also make up a lot of the plot and help the reader understand Mercy more. I do love her “bossy cheeked” strength and endurance and think she is a girl we could all strive to be like. I also loved the Chinese proverbs and Mrs. Lowery’s words of wisdom sprinkled through out.

San Francisco, 1906: Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from the poverty in Chinatown, and an education at St. Clare’s School for Girls is her best hope. Although St. Clare’s is off-limits to all but the wealthiest white girls, Mercy gains admittance through a mix of cunning and a little bribery, only to discover that getting in was the easiest part. Not to be undone by a bunch of spoiled heiresses, Mercy stands strong—until disaster strikes.

On April 18, a historic earthquake rocks San Francisco, destroying Mercy’s home and school. With martial law in effect, she is forced to wait with her classmates for their families in a temporary park encampment. Though fires might rage, and the city may be in shambles, Mercy show more can’t sit by while they wait for the army to bring help—she still has the “bossy” cheeks that mark her as someone who gets things done. But what can one teenage girl do to heal so many suffering in her broken city? show less

Please note that I gave this book 4.5 stars, but due to Goodreads not allowing half stars, I rounded the book up to 5 stars.

I have never read a novel by Stacey Lee before, but I am going to definitely check out her other books when I get some time. "Outrun the Moon" was a great look back at a tragic event in the city of San Francisco's past (1906 Earthquake) told from the first person point of view by 15 year old Mercy Wong.

I can honestly say that I am totally ignorant about all of the former laws and policies previously enacted in the United States passed in order to segregate Chinese and American born Chinese people in our country's past. I am actually a little ashamed of myself for not looking deeper into that especially since show more everything that Ms. Lee provided context about just caused me to want to read more and more and more.

I visited San Francisco a few years back for a friend's wedding and the city spoke to me like no other place has since. There are just some places that touch you and make you feel like you came home. I recall being fascinated by everything and I did a Big Bus tour around the city that briefly touched upon the Earthquake of 1906. But even with that context, I still had no idea of the devastation that people were forced to deal with for several days after the first quake.

"Outrun the Moon" takes place a few days before the San Francisco earthquake. Mercy Wong is determined to be enrolled at the St. Clare School for Girls in order to further her education. Mercy believes that if she is able to attend this school she will be able to use what she learns there in order to set up her own successful business. Living in San Francisco's Chinatown with her mother, father, and younger brother Jack, Mercy dreams of being able to make enough money for all of them to live in Nob Hill one day. Using "bribery" Mercy is able to get her foot in the door at St. Clare's, but finds that it may be harder than she thinks to be able to get what she really wants.

Mercy was a wonderful character. She is a 15 year old girl who is doing what she can in order to make sure that her family can be better off. Being the oldest and a girl you get to see how hard she is fighting to be taken on her own merits and not to be treated like a Chinese girl who is not as good as the white people she sees living in better off circumstances around her. Mercy's constant parroting of lines from a business book written by a businesswoman definitely made me smile after a while. I used to do that too when I was younger. Read something that stuck with me and would just repeat it back to friends and family. Thank goodness no one smothered me.

There were parts of me that did get a little bit frustrated with Mercy. I think it was because I wanted her to be cautious and be safe a lot of times during the story, but the character at that point was over everything and said screw it, I am going to do what I am going to do, and damn the consequences.

Other characters included in this book are Mercy's mother, father, her younger brother Jack, her longtime childhood friend Tom, and the girls that she meets at St. Clare's. There are a lot more characters introduced to you as soon as the action moves to St. Clare's but the big stand outs for me were Harry, Francesca, and Elodie. I would seriously love to see a sequel showing how did all of these girls turn out one day.

Though we don't get much insight into Mercy's family life besides crumbs left here and there, I felt their presence through the whole book. I will be honest though that the character of Tom did not do a thing for me. I loved Mercy's relationship/friendship with Francesca more. Those two together were fantastic.

The writing was really good. I know some words here and there from other friends so I already knew what "gwai lo" meant. Ms. Lee has Mercy explain things so I don't think any reader would get lost. Mercy's voice is very distinct the whole way through and read like a 15 year old girl.

The flow though was way too slow at the first half of the book, and the beginning of the book felt like it started mid-story to me. It read like the reader should already know what Mercy was up to. Nothing got explained there for a few chapters later for you to get why Mercy was out looking for a certain herb.

The world building was fantastic to me because this book took real life events and sections of a city and breathed life into the book.

The ending came a bit too fast for me. There was kind of a little cheat I would say surrounding some of the characters. I think that Ms. Lee wanted to make sure that whatever reader came along was not totally thrown into a pit of despair. show less

Mercy is a character full of ambition and moxie which apparently is indicated by her strong cheekbones. Growing up in Chinatown in San Francisco in 1906, she faces a great many obstacles when trying to apply for a spot in an exclusive school for girls. Not to be deterred, she sets up a meeting with the head of the school board and works a deal to get 3 months at the school where she'll attend as a Chinese heiress. Just as she's found out, the San Francisco earthquake hits and the story turns into a quest to survive. The remaining girls head to a camp and there find that they can find opportunity in the rubble. There are a lot of instances when they are discouraged from taking action because they are girls, but that doesn't seem to stop show more anyone in Mercy's group under her leadership. Memorable characters. show less