Walk Across the Sea
Kindle Edition
Margaret K. McElderry Books · Ebook · October 18, 2011
The first time Eliza sees Wah Chung, he is squatting beside some rocks on the pathway to her island.
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- Who it’s for
- A perilous island path opens onto a story of kindness, prejudice, and a difficult choice.
- Themes
- Prejudice and discrimination, Kindness across cultural divides, Standing up to injustice
- Genres
- 19th-Century U.S., Prejudice & Racism, Immigration & Moving
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The first time Eliza sees Wah Chung, he is squatting beside some rocks on the pathway to her island. Eliza's island is the one on which the lighthouse -- operated and maintained by her father -- stands, sending its beacon of safety to ships at sea. The pathway to the island is a treacherous one, engulfed by water when the tide is high, passable only when the tide is low and reveals the secret life of the sea on the rocks and in the pools that remain.
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Although Eliza is careful to avoid Wah Chung as he paints among the rocks (after all, he is a Chinaman), when a "sneaker wave" approaches the passage, it is Wah Chung who warns her and then rescues Eliza's goat, Parthenia, before both are swept away. It is a simple act of kindness, but one that causes Eliza to doubt many things. Are the Celestials, as the Chinese immigrants are called, such a threat to their small town? Are they really heathens, as her father claims? And what should she do when the townspeople conspire to expel these people forcibly? How will Eliza act, in the face of her father's strong beliefs and his duties as the lighthouse keeper, when Wah Chung comes to her for help in return?
Tides and Conviction
A perilous island path opens onto a story of kindness, prejudice, and a difficult choice.
Come here for
- Tidal dangers and a lighthouse-keeper’s family
- A friendship that unsettles inherited beliefs
Expect
- A young girl questioning her father’s views
- A choice shaped by kindness and community fear
Where it sits
| Prejudice & Racism | 71% |
|---|---|
| Immigration & Moving | 56% |
| 19th-Century U.S. | 41% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- 19th-Century U.S.
- Stories Set in Asia
- Friendship
- Authors
- Susan Fletcher
- Publisher
- Margaret K. McElderry Books
- Published
- October 18, 2011
- Format
- Ebook
- Theme
- Prejudice and discrimination · Kindness across cultural divides · Standing up to injustice
- Reading lane
- 19th-Century U.S.