Shining star

Paula Yoo! How well I remember her previous book, Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds. What a fantastic story.

So I could not wait to read this one, another biography of an Asian American. This time Woo tells the story of Anna May Wong, an actress in Hollywood in the 1930's through the 1950's. Wong did not like the stereotypical roles of an Asian American woman she often had to play, but it was not until near the end of her career that she decided to stop playing those roles.

The story of Wong is well told, with clear words and expressive pictures.

A little, from the very beginning of the book:

‘Anna May Wong struggled to free herself. Tight ropes bound her to the railroad tracks. A plume of smoke puffed into the sky as a train rumbled toward her.

“Stop daydreaming!”

Startled, Anna May opened her eyes. The train vanished. Steam, not smoke, hissed from a nearby boiler filled with dirty clothes.

“Get back to work,” snapped her father. “We have a full day's worth of laundry to clean and press.”'