From Booklist
Gr. 7^-12. With rare honesty, this story of a Chinese Canadian boy's coming-of-age captures the conflicts and compromises, the love and rage, of an outsider's search for identity. At 18, Kwok bitterly resents being ordered around by his father in the never-ending chores on their pig farm near Vancouver during the hard times of the Depression. At school, Kwok is teased by the white kids; yet, as a first-generation Canadian, he doesn't feel he belongs in nearby Chinatown either; he wishes he could just get away. Yee is open about the racism that Kwok encounters in the classroom, on the soccer field, in his bid for a university scholarship, and from the financial community. But the heart of the novel is the family: Kwok's mother drives him to get an education; his father wants Kwok on the farm; both parents want Kwok's sister to marry an older stranger for his money. When Kwok finally decides to stay on the farm, there's no sweet bonding; just a bleak respect for his father's struggle and an acceptance of their tangled heritage. Hazel Rochman
Midwest Book Review
In 1932 Vancouver, life is an uphill battle for 18 year old Kowk-ken Wong. When he's not slogging through chores on his family's struggling farm, he's studying hard to try to win a university soccer scholarship. The scholarship, he desperately hopes, will be his ticket away from his father's constant criticism, the poverty and hardship of farm life, and from the Chinese community that he doesn't feel he really belongs to. But trying to make his way in a white person's world where racism has a strong grip has him wondering if a young Chinese man, no matter how gifted, can make a good life for himself. Paul Yee's hard-hitting novel tells a story that is still timely and true today.
Breakaway FROM THE PUBLISHER
It is 1932. The only Chinese boy at his Vancouver school, 18-year-old Kwok-ken Wong is repeatedly stung by the racist remarks hurled his way by both classmates and teachers. Life at home isn't much easier, as his family struggles to make ends meet on a pig farm. Worse, Kwok doesn't get along with his father and is embarrassed by his family's circumstances. Kwok dreams of winning a university soccer scholarship. But he soon finds his way blocked, despite his demonstrated talent for the sport. Eventually, Kwok joins the Chinese community's soccer team and develops a sense of pride in his heritage and people. At the same time, he begins to understand and grow closer to his family, bridging a gap between worlds. Young readers will identify with the boy's struggle to prove himself, transcend adversity, and find a comfortable place in the world.
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