Child of the Owl by Laurence Yep

Yep, L. (1990). Child of the owl. New York: Harper Collins.

Child of the Owl is the story of a young Chinese American girl named Casey. While her gambling father is recovering from injuries, Casey goes to live in Chinatown with her Grandmother, Paw Paw. Until this time, Casey has never really thought of herself as Chinese. While living with PawPaw, Casey not only learns about her Chinese heritage, she learns about her own self and her deep strength. The thing that I enjoyed most about this book is the way that Casey and her grandmother interact and learn from each other. In my opinion, an opportunity to know a grandparent is a blessing that many people take for granted. In many cases, grandparents are a valuable key to our own personal histories and the source of much wisdom and strength. Like Casey, I have learned a lot about myself just by listening to stories that my grandparents have told and, through their stories, have a better understanding of where I come from. This understanding of my past and ancestors helps to give me more confidence in the direction I should go in the future. I think that Casey experiences these same feelings in Child of the Owl.

Laurence Yep is the author of many other books for young readers including Dragonwings, Dragon's Gate, Cockroach Cooties, Hiroshima, and The Magic Paintbrush. Yep has also written non-fiction works such as The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Yep also writes American Girl books about the character Mia.