The Star Fisher

In 1927, Yep's mother moved with her parents and siblings from Ohio to West Virginia. Although her parents are immigrants with little English, the family had a good life in Ohio. But with the move to West Virginia, the family is brought up short by the prejudice that is demonstrated by some townsfolk. Fortunately, they are also confronted with great acts of kindness by other members of the town. Using the metaphor of the star fisher, who lives with one foot on the earth and one in the heavens, Yep convincingly uses his family's story to write a lovely book about family and friendship.

This is the first book I've read of Yep's and he is a very pleasant writer. It was well-paced and a quick, engrossing read with delicate, vibrant metaphors. I did learn some cultural information, which was fun. For example, I enjoyed the star fisher story and how it tied in. The bit when the mom says that she wishes Americans used the months in the womb as part of a person's age was interesting, as I have always wondered why we don't do that and it was fun to find out that the Chinese do! (Of course, they also went into some detail about why a family like theirs would have tried to make it in America, which was informative and helpful in garnering sympathy for their plight, but then also unfortunately later implied more than once that show more apparently families like theirs just want to use Americans for their money so then they can eventually go back to China better off than they were when they left.)

I would like to give it a higher rating, but there were some inconsistencies that twinged me, mostly because I felt it did not give a consistent character build to the parents, and a couple other things that are worth pointing out because they contradict with what I think is meant to be the spirit of the book.

With regard to inconsistencies, on the train ride, Joan discusses how her dad is the cheerful one that always says yes to things whereas her mom is a little harder on them. But, the first night in West Virginia, their father won't let them eat dinner with Miss Lucy because he doesn't want to accept handouts from someone who claims to be a teacher and also an American, but when Joan's brother and sister want to eat at their friends' houses the next night, their father says yes. So now he is okay with them getting handouts from people who are even more strangers to them than Miss Lucy is? Then, Joan thinks to herself that she wished they'd asked their mother for permission instead because she would have said they couldn't eat at their friends' houses, even though their mother was the one who argued with the father the night before, wanting them to eat with Miss Lucy so the children don't go hungry. So, now she suddenly wouldn't be okay with them getting a decent meal? So much so that when Miss Lucy comes over with leftovers that same night, the mother, after YET AGAIN burning the rice (more on that later), tells Joan to tell Miss Lucy to take the leftovers away and they don't accept charity--after (as I mentioned above) just giving a passionate speech to the father the night before that he should have let them eat with Miss Lucy because their children are starving. Whuuu...

Another inconsistency is that I am confused about the Americanization of Joan, Emily, and Bobby's names. Both of their parents seem traditional enough that they would give their children traditional Chinese names. It would have been nice if that had been addressed more.

I understand that these inconsistencies may have been done purposefully to show their struggle with wanting to keep their heritage while still being accepted, especially considering Joan's endless waffling about how to think about her mother, but they were pretty glaring and so hard to ignore.

Moving on to other areas where I felt the book was a little off, while it is mostly understandable that her parents speak Chinese in front of other people because their English is so limited, I felt it was rude when Joan and Emily were speaking in Chinese to each other in front of Miss Lucy when she had them over for tea. As a general rule, it's not nice to have furtive side conversations (no matter how innocent) in another language in front of people who can't understand you, excluding them like that. I felt that Miss Lucy was a lot more patient about that than was realistic, and also about when they broke her cup, which I saw coming from a mile way.

I'm not sure if it was intentional, but their father and mother are nearly as racist to Americans as the Americans are to them. At some point in the book it is kind of addressed when they talk about how many kinds of racism there are and how they are intertwined, but not to my satisfaction. They are constantly calling Americans stupid and lazy and spoiled behind closed doors (which doesn't even include when the father insults Miss Lucy right to her face in Chinese!), but it's not okay for someone to spray paint rude things on their fence or call them names because it's out in the open? That doesn't sit well with me. If this book is meant to lend sympathy to other races trying to fit in in America, I am not sure if this lesson in the father's (or the mother's) intolerance is purposeful or if we're meant to just be okay with the fact that it's okay for them to badmouth people in their own language behind closed doors, all the while they are desperate for money from people who openly deface their property. Essentially what I learned from the book is that we're all racist and also we're all misunderstood and so that's why we should tolerate each other in person but we can say whatever we want about each other behind our backs, LOL.

The mother's inability to cook was also irritating, although it was clear from the start that it would be the deus ex machina of this book, the thing that makes them finally be accepted. I could see the mother not understand pie-making, but the fact that, as a Chinese woman, she could not even make rice (which is essentially akin to boiling water!) was a little out there for me. And, it's not that she's a bad cook, it's that she wanders off, leaving pots unattended on the stove so of course the rice will burn once all the water has boiled off! I don't understand why no one points this out to her, even her youngest child Emily, who is quite the spitfire, especially since the mother is wasting what little food they have (you would think the mother would be more conscientious). show less

What a fun exploration of the part of the immigrant experience less often told. How many of us knew, before reading this, that there was a Chinese laundry in West Virginia in the 1920s? The author admits to taking liberties for the sake of the story, but clarifies that the substance of the history is true - after all, it's his own family we're reading about!

Summary:
Joan Lee's parents speak very little English while her and her siblings speak very good English. They move from Ohio to West Virginia and they are met with struggles because they are immigrants and people do not accept them. Joan was born in America and believes herself to be American but no one else seems to believe her. She has courage throughout the book in proving that she belongs and great acts of kindness follow.

Personal Reaction:
I liked the book. I don't think it was really meant for children. The print is very small so you would probably have to read it to your child depending on their reading level and eyesight. Overall I think it brings up some unspoken things and how hard it is for immigrants in our country if we are show more not accepting of them.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Teach about different cultures in class and where people come from.
2. Learn another language in class. show less

In 1927, Joan Lee and her family move from Ohio to West Virginia. Joan's parents speak little english. Joan, her sister, and brother were raised in Ohio and speak really good english. At some they lead a very differnt culture than at school and out in the world around them. When they moved to West Virginia, some prejudice came into play. They get to know their friendly landlady, Mrs. Lucy. This book is a good story about the struggles of immmigrants and what they go through. I really liked the book. One thing I enjoyed is the detail that the author sometime brings in. You can picture it all so well as you read this book. I would read this book to go along witha social studies unit for the children to make that connection on what people show more really go through coming to America. show less

Star Fisher- is a non-fiction book and it is about a story in which a girl named Joan. She and her family were moving into a new house. There are three children and two adults in this family. They speak Chinese and they don’t want to talk to others that speak other languages. Their mother is really strict about distinct things. When they got there at their new house the kids missed their old house because they had friends there. So they had get used to the new house. There was a lady who was waiting for the next people to go into their new house. So her name was Mrs.Lucy and she was in charge of the washing machines around the neigborhood. The dad lost his job and that is why he is so deperessed and mad. Mrs.Lucy heard the other night show more of the flame of the fire of how the stove was on. So that is how Mrs.Lucy was mad at the mother because it was her fault from leaving the stove on. There was one day that Mrs.Lucy was entering the pie contest which the mother wanted to be part of it too. She wanted to be awsome like everyone other american because she didn’t fit into everyone else does. So they were biding for money. So Mrs.Lucy had a lot of money because people loved her. So the mother nobody voted except for Mrs.Lucy she paid $15 for the pie so that everybody could be happy.

Opinion- I think that the starfisher was a awsome but sad book. I would give this a 4 ½ points because I just don’t like sad and emotional books. But other people might love sad books but I would recommened it to any people. show less

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