The author has placed Hanna in the middle of America’s heartland, where most white people have never seen Asian Americans, but hold an unwavering prejudice against anyone of color, including Native Americans. Linda Sue Park has penned an insightful and beautifully poignant novel about a Chinese American girl, traveling from California to the Midwest with her widowed white father. In a setting that will be recognized by fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, this compelling story of resolution and persistence, told with humor, insight, and charm, offers a fresh look at a long-established view of history. The people of LaForge have never seen an Asian person before most are unwelcoming and unfriendly - they don’t even know her! Hanna is determined to stay in LaForge and persuade them to see beyond her surface. She and Papa could make a home here.īut Hanna is half-Chinese, and she knows from experience that most white people don’t want neighbors who aren’t white themselves. She could go to school, if there is a school, and even realize her dream of becoming a dresmaker - provided she can convince Papa, that is. Her father could open a shop on the main street. When Hanna arrives in the town of LaForge (Dakota Territory) in 1880, she sees possibilities.

Themes: Fathers and daughters, Chinese Americans, Racially mixed people, Bullying, Frontier and pioneer life, Dakota Territory, Dressmaking

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