"Fritz draws readers into scenes of her youth in the turbulent China of the mid-twenties. . . . the generous affection of her nurse/companion . . . her mother's grief over losing a second child, the dynamics of asuffering population venting its hostility on foreigners, and most of all, the loneliness of a child's exile from a homeland she has imagined constantly but never seen."--Booklist, starred review. Newbery Medal Honor Book; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book.