Another sad chapter in our country's history - but a beautifully written story. I highly recommend this book. ( )

Compelling, tragic, and inspiring. The Paper Daughters of Chinatown for young readers is an adaptation from the original historical fiction novel. I was curious to see how the authors would be able to take the difficult subjects of human trafficking and slavery and create an appropriate version for young readers. Heather B. Moore and Allison Hong Merrill have definitely done it. They’ve taken the real life stories of Tien Fu Wu and Donaldina “Dolly” Cameron and expertly brought them to life for younger readers.

In the late 1800’s a loophole in the law allowed young women and children to be trafficked from China to America. Six year old Tai Choi thinks she’s traveling to visit her grandmother. Instead, she’s been sold by her father to fulfill a gambling debt. Tai Choi finds herself on a boat to America where she’s given the new name Tien Fu Wu and told to lie about why she’s coming to San Francisco. She’s soon forced into servitude where she’s beaten and punished if the child she cares for cries or if she doesn’t perform her chores satisfactorily. When she’s rescued and taken to the Occidental Mission Home for Girls, she has a difficult time trusting. She’s rightly suspicious of her new circumstances and frequently acts up.

Dolly Cameron wants to do something important. She accepts a position at the Occidental Mission teaching sewing. As she learns the girls’ tragic stories, she’s filled with compassion. When she’s asked to help perform dangerous rescue missions, she readily agrees. Dolly has a complicated relationship with Tien Fu Wu and it takes a while for her to gain her trust. But, these two form a powerful friendship as both grow throughout the story and work to rescue other young women.

Tien Fu Wu is such a great character who helps the reader understand the painful experiences she endured after being separated from her family. Dolly’s character is inspiring and I sympathized with her compassion for the girls she rescues. I especially enjoyed how she tried to gently inspire Tien Fu Wu to do better when she discovers she’s stolen a crate of apples. Dolly also serves to shine a light on the evil practices of human trafficking, unfortunately still going on today.

I appreciated how this difficult yet little spoken of time in history was portrayed for young readers. While there are a few mentions of prostitution, opium dens, and gangs, it serves to help the reader understand the situation these children and young women were forced into. It’s sensitively handled and tastefully done with just enough detail to accomplish this task. The things these young girls went through were heartbreaking, yet they’re tempered with the kindness and love shown to them by Dolly and others. Dolly was so beloved that many called her “mother.” It’s a fantastic introduction to this tragic time in America’s history. I would recommend it to middle grade (5th & 6th grade) readers and up. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own and left voluntarily. 4 1/2 stars out of 5. ( )

This is an adult read that has been adapted for younger readers, but think a parent would need to judge the maturity age of their own child.
Sadly, this story is based on fact and real people, and love the answers to questions at the end by the author.
A story of a great love for the unfortunate, and those that will to do whatever to help! The author has us follow Tai Choi among others and Dolly Cameron, a young woman unaware when she begins the part she is going to play in these young girls lives.
This is historical read and I did do some separate research and found pictures, also of the home!
The author did a great job of bring this read alive, without making it graphic!
I received this book through the Publisher Shadow Mountain, and was not required to give a positive review. ( )

I appreciate when a book introduces a piece of history that I knew little to nothing about. That this is a part of history here in the U.S. is both heartbreaking and horrifying. Heather B. Moore is a fantastic writer of historical fiction. I appreciate how well-researched and detailed the story is. (Moore shares additional facts in the afterword and chapter notes that follow the conclusion of the story. They are well worth a read.)

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The story of the young Chinese women brought to the US with the promise of marriage, only to be sold into prostitution was heartbreaking. It was inspiring because of the work Donaldina Cameron and The Occidental Mission Home for Girls in San Francisco did for these women.

Set in San Francisco in the late 1890’s through the early 1900’s, this is a story about the human trafficking of Chinese women. At that time in US history, Chinese women could immigrate if their father or spouse were already in the US. The tong brought women (and girls) illegally to the US with the promise of a husband, using false papers and a very well memorized background to fool immigration – thus the title of the book. Once here, however, they learned there was no waiting husband. Once here, the tong sold these women into prostitution, and often sedated them with opium to make them compliant.

The book alternates between the stories of two people: Donaldina “Dolly” Cameron, and a fictitious character Mei Lien, a “paper daughter” of the book’s title. Donaldina’s story tells the tale of how she came to work at the Occidental Mission Home. It also tells of the risks she and her coworkers took rescuing Chinese prostitutes and slaves from a criminal group referred to as the tong. Mei Lien is brought to the US under false pretenses. Her story is simply tragic and made me angry. It provides a vivid first-hand picture of what some of the women endured.

This is a character-driven story, and Moore does a wonderful job with both the main characters and supporting characters. I was emotionally drawn to all the characters: Dolly, for her bravery and dedication. The girls rescued from the tong for both what they endured and how they helped the other girls and women who came to the school. What they had to endure was both enraging and heartbreaking.

I also appreciated how Moore told a story that was, quite honestly at times, brutal and heart wrenching without giving graphic or gratuitous details. Sometimes in a story based on a person’s life story, the details are flat and dry. This is not the case here. She has painted a picture that is vivid and made Dolly Cameron a three-dimensional character.

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown really stuck with me long after the last page was turned. (And it is a page-turner!) It’s not a light read, but it is a powerful read, and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. It’s also a story that needed to be told.

My thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing for providing me with a copy of the book; all opinions are my own. ( )

What an incredible story!! The fact that it is seeped in truth made The Paper Daughters of Chinatown all the more heartbreaking and unbelievable, while at the same time being hopeful and inspiring.

This is the first historical fiction that I've read about the paper daughters, and the evil secrets of Chinatown, and sadly I've never heard of Donaldina Cameron but, after reading this book, she has become one of my hero's! Literally sacrificing her entire life for her "daughters" and fighting the sex trafficking and prostitution that permeated Chinatown in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Heather B. Moore handled this sensitive subject matter in an incredible way, not sugar coating the encounters and situations, but alluding to them in a way that leaves no question in the reader's mind about what transpired, painting painful portraits of abuse, and heroic rescues. The use of opium is prominent, as this drug was used to manipulate in the most painful way possible, leaving the paper daughters addicted and in a place of hopelessness. It's so painful to read, yet it's a problem that still persists today, and one that we all need to know.

Dolly's true life story is paralleled with the story of a fictional Chinese girl wanting to help give her mom a better life, and finds herself in the worst nightmare possible. I was entranced and enraged what she endured, knowing that even though she was fictitious, many girls and women have endured similar, if not worse, fates. Absolutely unimaginable...

I am so thankful to Heather B. Moore for shedding a needed light on such incredible women, and their worthy cause. The research that went into this novel shows on every page and you can really feel the author's passion on this subject. She includes all of her references, a list of books for further reading on the subject, and discussion questions for small group study. This would be a wonderful book club pick and a novel I could not put down!!

Thank you Heather B. Moore from the bottom of my heart for writing such an astonishing narrative that I cannot rave enough about! Though a dark subject matter, Donaldina Cameron and her unwavering faith shines through the pain and fear of many Chinese girls, her cause and light spreading hope and love in a community that so desperately needed it. What an incredible story!!

*I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views and opinions are completely honest, and my own. ( )