Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze (1933)

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze tells the story of a young boy, age 13, who is displaced by war in 1920s China. (The date is approximate as I could not find an actual time in the book.)  At his father's death, Young Fu and his mother have no way of working their fields, but someone in the village has connections to a coppersmith in Chungking (now spelled "Chongqing"), and is able to secure an apprenticeship for Young Fu.  Going from the open air and fields of China to the cramped city is quite a change for them.

(A note.  Fu is the family name.  Young Fu's name is actually "Fu Yuin-fah."  In China the family name is first, and he is called "Young Fu" because he is young.)

Young Fu develops a good relationship with the coppersmith and learns his trade well.  He has learning experiences as he grows and develops in his new setting.  These were all very interesting.  He learned the vices of going into debt, the danger of gambling, the stumbling block of pride, the horror of war.  All of these are told with understanding and compassion for Young Fu and those he associates with.

I especially enjoyed watching how his relationship with his mother and the coppersmith develop as Young Fu grows up.  I also learned much about the customs of China during that time.  The people, especially those from the country, were very superstitious.  His mother constantly reminds him to not cross this dragon or that.  But as Young Fu experiences life, he comes to not believe quite so strongly in the old teachings.

One thing that I really liked about Young Fu was his honesty.  Several times in the book he had the opportunity to lie or tell half-truths or keep silent when it was to his advantage, but he always spoke out and told the full truth.

This book had many good nuggets of truth to glean.  Here are some favorite quotes:

"Always these foreigners must hurry.  They waste good time studying their watches. They hasten to earn money and hasten to spend it.  Why then trouble to gain it?  Careful spending increases riches." (p. 34)

"What is fortune without wisdom?" (p. 54)

"No man can rule the unruly until he first rules himself." (p. 164)"No task into which a man puts his heart is too bad.  For the lazy, all work is difficult. 'The superior man finds pleasure in doing what is uncongenial.'" (p. 249)

I would definitely recommend Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. 

Lewis, Elizabeth Foreman. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1932.

Waterless Mountain (1932)

A little slow, Waterless Mountain did give me a better understanding of Navajo culture in the early part of the 20th century.  The story revolves around Younger Brother and his growth from an 8-year-old child to a youth on his way to becoming a man, and a medicine man at that.  At one point, Younger Brother decides he must go west to the sea and bring back some sea water to his uncle, the medicine man.  He has many adventures along the way, but eventually, with some help, reaches the sea and is able to return to his people wiser for the journey.

I enjoyed the authors description of how the Navajos felt connected to nature and how nature was connected to the "holy ones," the gods associated with their mythology.  Here is just one example of many.  "The secret joy inside of him responded to the joy of all the desert world and he knew that the holy ones watched him from the heat waves and the mirage which danced before his eyes." (p. 110)  How they related to the world around them and the meaning they gathered from everyday happenings in the world was very enlightening.

Seeing the clash of cultures between the Navajos and "white men" was also interesting..  The way the author describes it, the interactions were very paternalistic, with the white men providing an outlet for selling handmade goods such as rugs and turquoise and silver jewelry, in exchange for tobacco, clothing, etc.  One clash took place when the Big Man, the owner of the trading post, took Younger Brother and his family to see a Western movie.  In it Younger Brother saw the image and heard the voice of a relative who had died.  He ran from the theater scared and yelling, " Chindi!" or ghost.

I liked the telling of their legends of the Turquoise Woman and her journey to the west, the Pack People, the Young Woman Who Tinkles (not the way we use the word tinkle), and many others.

Some memorable quotes:
"There are always doubters but what of it, so long as there are those who believe and dream?" (p. 73)
"At times he was lonely, but not for any particular person.  The loneliness came when he was the happiest.  Then he felt the old longing to share his joy with someone." (p. 106)
"There are some happenings we do not speak of.  It is better to be quiet until one understands."  (p. 206)

Would I recommend this book?  Maybe.  The story was good and the learning about other cultures and times, but it was a very slow-moving book.

Armer, Laura Adams. Waterless Mountain. Longmans, Green and Co., 1931.

The Cat Who Went to Heaven (1931)

(Before I dig into The Cat Who Went to Heaven, I want to make one other comment about Hitty.  I realized a few days ago that something bothered me about the book.  The main character never made a single choice to impact any other character in the book.  Her presence was appreciated by her owners, and she was missed when removed from the scene, but she, herself, did not have the ability to choose and to make a  difference in the lives of those around her.  Now on to the current book...)

How many different ways are there to say, "I liked this book."?  Since I am reading Newbery winners, I expect that most of them will be ones I like.

Elizabeth Coatsworth tells the story of a poor artist in Japan.  Nobody buys his paintings and there is barely enough for him and his housekeeper to fend off starvation.  But one day the housekeeper brings home a three-colored cat, considered good luck, who they name "Good Fortune".  The artist's luck does change when the priest from the Buddhist temple in their town commissions him to depict the death of the Buddha.  It is a very great honor.

The artist takes the job with deep gratitude and humility.  He greatly desires to make his art worthy of the Buddha, so he meditates on the life of the Buddha.  How he began as Prince Siddhartha, wealthy and pampered.  How he came to know of death and disease and sadness in the world.  How he gave up all of his worldly possessions to find peace and love in the world.  How he was prepared when the time of death came.  All of this, the artist imagined in great detail, putting himself in the place of Buddha in order to have the empathy necessary to create a work of truth.

The artist then goes on to imagine each of the animals he will depict in the picture and how they loved and revered the Buddha.  He thinks of stories of each animal and in all his imaginings, he remembers that the cat would not be allowed into paradise.  "'Ah, the cat refused homage to Buddha,' he remembered, 'and so by her own independent act, only the cat has the doors of Paradise closed in her face.'" (p. 20)  This made him sad, for he had come to love Good Fortune.  As with us, it is be our own independent acts that will close the doors of heaven.

When he looks upon his completed work, he knows that something is missing.  He adds a cat, even though the priest might not accept the painting with the cat in it.  He knows it might ruin him.  When the priest sees the cat, he does indeed reject the painting, and would in fact burn it, but the artist is glad that his beloved cat looks out from the painting.

The story has a bittersweet ending which I will not reveal.  I loved learning about Buddha, his teachings, and some of the stories surrounding him.  I was recently asked to speak in church on the topic of humility.  This book has made me think about how Buddha was so humble and gave all his possessions away to come to enlightenment, peace and love.

A good, quick read.

Coatsworth, Elizabeth. The Cat Who Went to Heaven.  Macmillan Publishing Company, 1930.

Hitty, her First Hundred Years (1930)

Hitty is a sweet doll, fashioned by a peddlar for young Phoebe Preble around 1825.  The book chronicles the doll's adventures, covering 100 years, told from Hitty's point of view.  I was not too excited to read this one, but it turned out better than I expected.

Hitty has many adventures from being carried away by crows to meeting Charles Dickens, from surviving the a shipwreck and being worshipped by natives as an idol to being stuck in a sofa for years (better than finding a quarter) before being found and living in a Quaker household.  She always keeps her wits about her and stoically endures every hardship. 

What I am not sure about is how Hitty managed to keep her sanity.  If I were sentient doll, I think I would go mad.  Mad I tell you!  Mad!!  She thinks, feels and hopes, but has no way of communicating or indicating in any way that she does so.  It made me wonder how it would be to have some disease or illness that would close those doors.  What would I do to retain sanity?  Are there illness like that?  The good news is that I haven't lost sleep over the issue.

Field, Rachel.  Hitty, her First Hundred Years.  Macmillan Publishing Company, 1929.