View from Pagoda Hill

February 15, 2021
In this story based on the author's family history, a girl struggles to figure out where she belongs. Born to a White American father and a Chinese mother, 12-year-old Ning feels out of place in 1878 Shanghai. Her hair is dark brown rather than black, she has green eyes, and her feet are not bound--uncommon given her age and affluent family background--all things that mark her as unattractive. Having never met her father and with her affection rebuffed by her mother, Ning finds friendship and support from Number One Boy, her mother's servant. When the local matchmaker declares it will be impossible for her to make a decent marriage, Ning's mother desperately arranges for Ning's father to come. They agree to send her to live with her grandparents in upstate New York. Once there, Ning, now renamed "Neenah," struggles with racism, identity, and lacking a sense of belonging. MacColl weaves an intriguing narrative inspired by the life of her great-great-grandmother. However, Chinese cultural cues are filtered through an American perspective, resulting in Ning's mother's being portrayed as unfeeling. Shocking and harsh racist remarks and encounters Neenah has in the U.S. are appropriate to the time, but young readers would have benefited from having them explained explicitly. An intriguing tale. (author's note, picture credits) (Historical fiction. 9-12)

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Starred review from April 1, 2021

Gr 5-8-The year is 1877 in Shanghai, China; 12-year-old Ning lives with her Mama, Sun, and their servant, Number One Boy. Due to Ning's "unusual" appearance, biracial ethnicity, tall height, and unbound feet, her frustrated mother finds difficulty obtaining a suitor for her daughter. Ning believes her physical attributes are what make it arduous for people, particularly her mother, to like her. Seeing no hope for her daughter's future in China, Sun sends for Ning's long-lost father to come and take her back to his homeland, which he begrudgingly does. And just like that, Ning is transferred overseas, never to see her mother and Number One Boy again. Trying to maintain optimism on her way to New York, Ning is shocked to realize that the townsfolk have absurd assumptions of her and of China. Readers will take an unnerving journey with the young protagonist as she juggles her two identities, all in the hopes of one day having friends to play with and a family to love her just as she is. MacColl tells the heartbreaking story of a young girl immigrating to a new land and adjusting to different customs. Loosely based on the life of the author's great-great-grandmother, MacColl's novel will bring tears to readers' eyes as they travel in Ning's shoes, seeing the perspective of someone who faces biases and racism on a daily basis. VERDICT A movingly empathetic tale for readers about prejudice, and the pressure to fit in with scrutinizing societies.-Beronica Puhr, Oak Park P.L., IL

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