Independent Reading Level: Grades 3-5

How well do you know your family? A young boy named Sun must pass a test to prove that he is his father's son before being allowed to enter America. He spends some time on Angel Island with other boys waiting for his chance to answer the questions.

Lovely story, would be a great addition to an immigration unit. ( )

This book would be a great pairing with Paper Son. Teachers could use them both to compare characters. It gives students the idea that you can find multiple books on the same subject and also same or different perspectives. I also like the illustrations that bring to life the big picture of the story. ( )

I thought this book was fine! It was informational and definitely meaningful. I think that the illustrations paired with the text on each page worked well and the settings which the book takes place in are accurate for the time period. The illustrations colors are more dulled and washed out which works well with the book supposed to be taking place around the mid to late 1800s. One of my favorite illustrated pages is the page when Sun's dad throws the torn up pages of the coaching book off the ledge of the boat. Now Sun knows the intensity to the importance of listening to his fathers advice. Although the writing is organized and paced well, there is a lot of text per page - for example, pages 13-14 and 5-6. These types of pages could lead a child to get a little overwhelmed. Regardless of how well-paced the information is, it is a lot of written information to be expected to comprehend.
Overall, I think the main idea/ message the author wanted to get across was the importance of taking risks to make a better life for yourself. Sun didn't want to leave his homeland but once he realized that his brothers had grown up and became successful, he knew it was important for him to do the same! ( )

Summary:

Landed is a picture book about a twelve year old boy named Sun from China who immigrates to America. His father is a merchant who owns a store in San Francisco and all of his brothers have gone through the immigration process after the age of twelve. On his twelfth birthday, Sun’s father informs him about immigrating to the United States. He spends time with a tutor who helps him prepare for the questioning he will have to endure at Angel Island. When the time comes, Sun and his father take the long journey by boat from China to San Francisco. Because Sun’s father has already gone through the immigration process, he has to leave Sun behind at Angel Island. Sun spends about four weeks at Angel Island before he goes through three days of questioning to prove who he is. Finally, after all of the questioning, Sun is able to reunite with his father and his brothers in California.

Comments (opinions/argument):

This is a great example of a historical fiction picture book for older elementary students. It does a great job explaining what it was like for immigrants from other countries coming to America during the Gold Rush. Although the story itself isn’t a true story, it does a wonderful job portraying the realistic life style, struggles and accomplishments of people during this time period. It talks about the struggles Sun has to go through having to study and prepare to be interrogated and having to live at Angel Island until they release him into America. The central message of this story is to inform children about the history of immigrants and what kinds of experiences they endured during this time period. This is a great example of a multicultural book for older children because it portrays the Asian American culture and is a more complex text with lots of details and more advanced vocabulary. ( )