Homesick: My Own Story

Jean Fritz was born in China and lived there until 1927, when she was twelve. Young Jean had spent her entire life in China, but her parents' memories of home and letters from relatives in Pennsylvania made her feel that she was American--and homesick for a place she'd never seen!

Family photographs and illustrations by Margot Tomes show us the real people behind Jean's vivid and unforgettable stories--memories of picnics on the Great Wall, pranks, holidays in the foreign compound, rebellious moments at her British school. close ties to Chinese friends, and how it felt to be called a "foreign devil" and spat upon in the streets of a turbulent China on the eve of revolution. When her family embarks upon its long journey home, Jean is show more thrilled, but she wonders: When she arrives in America at last, will she fit in after growing up on "the wrong side of the world?" show less

At the age of 11, Jean has never set foot on American soil, but she dreams of the day when she will get to experience typical American childhood events: feeding chickens at her grandmother's farm, roller-skating, saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school. On the other hand, she loves her life in China, too. This fictionalized memoir is a lovely description of a young girl who is, in many ways, torn between two countries. Fritz obviously remembers vividly what it is to be a child -- young Jean struggles with her parents' expectations that she be a "good" girl. "Sometimes, I don't even try [to be good]," she admits in a letter to her grandmother.

When a friend (Whisper1) passed this book along to me, I thought that I had never read it -- show more but as I read, I found that certain mental images echoed back from my childhood: the junks on the Yangtze, the chef with his long fingernails and his elaborate butter pagodas, the little boy who calls Jean a "foreign devil" and with whom she shares an orange. I must have read this at some point in the deep and dusty past. While the descriptions of Fritz's China are, by now, somewhat dated, her descriptions of her childhood feelings are timeless. show less

Fritz's novelized autobiography of her childhood in China in the 1920s. Fairly interesting, and the glimpse at what was going on in China at the time through a child's eyes is well done. This Newbery Honor Book was written in the early 1980's, but I think it would still appeal to middle grade kiddos today.

A very engaging story about Jean's final years living with her parents in China about 1926. Her writing is descriptive, her imagination expansive, and her integration with Chinese people respectful. Most importantly, she fully expresses her emotions at feeling displaced yet connected to the only world she has ever known (has been living there since her birth).
I think any child will enjoy this book...as well as a great many adults.

Given the controversy in the last few years over what constitutes a memoir, it was interesting that Jean Fritz qualified the nature of her memoir in the foreward of this book. She said given that she has recreated dialogue from old memories that she must call the book fiction even though it is her past. Setting was a definite character is this book. Fritz's details of the places she lived in are rich and colorful. Setting advances the plot--in fact getting on a boat and going to America is little Jean Fritz's goal. Additionally, place changes Jean. After her baby sister dies, the magic of the mountain community where they were living disappears. It becomes too windy and the spring flowers die. Additionally, the historical events in show more China are described in great detail but from the eyes of a young girl. These events propel the Fritz family out of China and back to the U.S. Fritz used the zig-zag method of inserting back story and it was subtle and effective. For example, in the first chapter Jean returns from school and calls out that she is home. No one answers. "Then I remembered that it was Tuesday, the day my mother taught an English class at the U.M.C.A. where my father was the director." That is the end of this brief insertion of explanation of background. The reader is drawn immediately back into the present as Jean describes the high ceiling in the hallway. show less

I did not find to be racist, despite bearing in mind warnings from others. Jean did respect and also feel compassion for the different Chinese people. The boy with whom she shared oranges, the coolies, her father's friend, her companion. In fact, she admired them.

And she did not so much admire other 'foreign devils' like that schoolboy or that teacher who insisted she sing the British nat'l anthem.

Sure, she wants to be with her grandparents, in a country that feels more like her true home... but I can't imagine holding that against her. It's what her parents told her. Ok, so she's a little uncritical of her parents, but they weren't bad people, and they didn't do wicked things. They meant well and sacrificed a lot because they were show more doing the best they could to do what they thought was the right service (not righteous, not power-hungry).

My edition, at least, had prologue note, (not enough) illustrations, photos, and history note. I enjoyed the book very much, felt fully immersed in it, and read it in one session when sleep was late coming. show less

Charming memoir of the author's childhood in China and the transition to her new life in America.

As an adult, I loved it: the poignant experiences, the thoughtful musings, the character and her sometimes unreined mouth. I'm just not sure that most children would love it as much; it's describing a quieter, long-ago type of childhood that your average children may not be able to relate to.