What a story! This is the middle school version of the adult novel by the same name. The story follows a young girl who was sold by her family to become a 'paper daughter' of Chinatown. The story flows well and isn't too graphic for readers but does provide enough details to break your heart for the girls who were put into this horrible positions and make you so angry at the adults that used and abused them. It was wonderful to read about the true heroes who took in and literally rescued these girls from dangerous situations risking their lives! A very good read into a dark history not widely discussed. My only complaint is there are no pictures. I had to go online after reading to look up these amazing women because they are truly remarkable!

I debated between 2 and 3 stars on this book. Given that it's historical fiction rather than nonfiction, I expected more of a deep dive into the characters. The only character we get that from is Tien Fu Wu in the first 20% of the book. The rest of book is just ok. Mission House worker Dolly Cameron takes over the spotlight and the story development is not the same from there on out.

6-year-old Tai Choi has a good life in China if you discount the foot binding. Her life is ripped right out from under her when her father sells her to a human broker to pay off his debts. She's shuffled around to several different people until finally she ends up on a ship bound for San Francisco's Chinatown. She gets a new identity as Tien Fu Wu and becomes an abused servant to a wealthy Chinese woman. She's eventually discovered by the Occidental Mission Home and rescued. She lives out the rest of her childhood at the home. Dolly Cameron arrives at the home shortly after Tien Fu Wu to teach sewing skills. She is kind to the girls and becomes determined to rescue any and all trafficked Chinatown girls she can. Her dedication is admirable.

This book would have been much better if we had gotten the same level of description about the other girls who were rescued as we did Tien Fu Wu. But my biggest complaint is that the story becomes disjointed after the rescue. Tien Fu Wu fades into the background. We get so much emotional pull from her story, but when Dolly Cameron becomes the focus, the writing shifts into more of a nonfiction mode. The rescue missions become pretty ho hum. I can't understand why the author changed tactics with the telling of the story. The advantage of historical fiction over nonfiction is that you can go into the heads of characters and REALLY tell the story.

Despite the fantastic cover, the criticisms mentioned make it a hard sell to kids. Truly unfortunate.

My thoughts :
I am completely satisfied reading the book.It's the story of humanity taking over greed.Tai Choi was sold by her own father saying it's the journey to her Granny's house.That's the time when her world turned upside down.The progresses with the struggles of her life in this cruel world along with her friend. They both aim to rescue the immigrants stuck in San Fransisco. The fact that the book is inspired from a true story saddens my heart.I am thrilled with the writer's magic of putting emotions in each words.This os basically an adaptation for young readers out there.I must appreciate the way thus sensitive topics were presented in an age appropriate manner.Must read!!

TW: Hint of SA, Child trafficking, human trafficking, slavery, abuse, trauma and more

First time exposed to this history, and this was, like much history, uncomfortable and shocking to think it happened. I know how much was left out as this is a young reader's book; it is a startling introduction to the pain and truth of history, but necessary!

I genuinely think it did a good job. The narrative captures a child's innocent mind, and seeing through Tai Choi's perspective to the darker sides honestly leaves you in dread and rage because you know what is happening and want to protect them.
Highly recommend it, and now I must read the original version!

Please--whatever you own race or identity--stop writing books about White women saving women of color. Yes, I know White missionaries did all kinds of work in North America's Chinatowns, but their arrogance and sense of righteousness--on display here, at least a little bit--is seriously problematic. I also don't think you can write about sex work and enslavement without saying the words. I think the term "prostitution" is used maybe twice. This book assumes that young readers--whatever it thinks they are--are to innocent to know what human trafficking is all about. If you're making a young readers version, you still h ave to tell them what's going on, in clear language. You can't just be coy about it. It's also unclear where the real focus was--is this a bio of Cameron, or a story of what her "students" experienced? It's uneven and unclear, and I never got the feeling that Cameron was close to any of the women or girls who populate the book.

Tien Fu was sold into slavery to pay off her father's debts. The girl ends up in San Francisco, where after months of hard work as a mui tsai, she was taken to a mission house, where she meets Donaldine Cameron.
In Paper Daughters of Chinatown, the authors decided to touched a tough episode in the history of the USA and China. The story of young Chinese women taken to the United States and sold into indentured slavery or forced into prostitution is not widely known and often discussed. Heather Moore and Allison Hong Merrill decided to make work even harder for themselves by targeting children and younger teens. I think they did a pretty good job of adapting the story to the sensibilities of younger readers. I also have to commend the inclusion of an extensive bibliography at the end of the book to encourage further education on the subject. However, I have a problem with the flow of the narrative. While reading Paper daughters, I had the impression that this is not a full story, or even a fragment of a longer story, but a collection of scenes in which certain elements of the characters' biographies must appear. I also have a problem with Donaldine Cameron's character creation. The authors do not manage to avoid presenting a missionary as the white saviour.
As a historical fiction that’s supposed to introduce the young reader to this topic, I would recommend it.

I had already read The Paper Daughters of Chinatown, and I was so excited to see the version for young readers! I thought this was beautifully adapted for a younger audience. It handled hard topics with age-level appropriateness. The stories of Dolly and Tien Fu are so inspirational.

I definitely recommend this book as a historical fiction to teach young people about this time period.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing, NetGalley, and the authors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really really enjoyed this book, not only was it interesting to read through the eyes of a 7 year old girl but it was also mesmerising to read about the slave trade in China and America, how social standards of beauty are perceived in different countries (the foot binding in the beginning) and the character decelopment in this book was simply amazing too.

I especially loved the ending, without spoiling anything I loved the full circle kind of moment in the ending and I was very content with it since I felt like it fit well for the end of the book itself.

Definitely recommend!

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown follows the lives of the young girls and women who were either kidnapped or sold into slavery by their families in China and their subsequent lives of hardship as slaves or sex workers in the San Francisco area in the 1850's. There is a devoted group of missionaries who live and work in the area where most of these girls end up working. Their mission is to rescue these young women, teach them to read and write not only in English, but in their native languages as well and prepare them for a trade as seamstresses or household help. The work is not easy and it is also dangerous as those who "own" the girls will stop at nothing to retrieve their "property" and yet, the home continues to intervene to save these poor souls. This reads more like a script for a Ken Burn's documentary/docudrama than a novel. Only a few of the characters are truly fleshed out and the prejudice of the home's second Director is never explained. Some of the "escaping the bad guys" scenes could easily belong in a modern day action movie and raise some doubts as to the feasibility of leaping from rooftop to rooftop wearing the long, full skirts of the day while carrying an unconscious girl. Although an interesting part of history, it would have been better as a fully researched work of non-fiction.

A tale that resonated deeply with me. I was very curious to read this and it took me several days to finish this. Beautiful, well written and researched. I am thankful to Netgalley and the publishers for sharing me the e arc.

I already loved this book but I think I might love this more. This version crafts a story for any reader to follow but still captures the feeling of it.

Loved both versions of this book .. well written and hard topic to cover ..but loved the story line and how the author told the story …. I would definitely recommend this book to others to read ..

This was something I unfortunately knew very little about going in. At the same time, it's not surprising the torturous treatment these girls were given at the hands of these grotesque individuals. Because throughout history what is always ignored is how to treat people like the humans they are. It's also not surprising how little info about these things is shared and taught. Reading this story about the brave woman who helped save these enslaved girls was truly heartwrenching and had me hooked the entire time. Terrified to come to the end but honored to have learned a story not many know. Including myself at the start. It shows that just one person can make a difference and better the lives of those who have been hurt.

I was curious how this topic of atrocities experienced by young Chinese girls and women would be adapted for young readers, but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this poignant story. Human trafficking is a sensitive and timely topic, and the book was perfect for its audience without too much graphic details but enough to get the point across. Sometimes these types of historical novels tend to get bogged down by too much detail, but the story was a good mix of fact and fiction and progressed at a good pace. I usually judge a book by how much emotion I feel as I read it, and I found myself crying both sad and happy tears as I read about the plight of these poor, helpless girls and those trying to help them.

The Paper Daughters of Chinatown is an excellent story for middle grade and young adult readers. It tells the sad history of the Chinese girls brought to America after being stolen or sold by their families, but it also tells of the courage, compassion, and strength of the girls themselves and the people who worked to help them.

The primary character, Tien Fu, is very young when her father sells her into slavery. Many younger readers will relate to her innocence, fear, and obedience to her captors. As she ages into a teenager, young adult readers will understand her resentment, anger, and inability to trust. Her growth and healing are inspiring and resilient, and she is a heroine for readers to emulate.

The secondary protagonist, Donaldina Cameron, is a heroic figure and one readers should learn about. She shows her courage and doubt, her strength and fear, but her growth is clear and encouraging.

Overall, this story is carefully written to appeal to readers of different ages. Issues like prostitution, forced marriage, and sexual abuse are suggested without being described in detail, so even younger readers can learn from this story, while older readers will be able to understand the gravity and horror of the stories.

This story could be used in a study of Chinese immigration, Chinese-American history, or reformers, while older students could be encouraged to research the era, laws, and real-life characters from the story to deepen their knowledge. The authors have done an outstanding job of creating a story that is factual and enthralling, relatable, and inspiring.

Well written, excellent story. Very interesting plot and topic that is under written about. For the atrocities these women and children went through coming to the US, often against their will, this is an under reported topic. Or at least one I had not previously ever read about. I appreciated how this book discussed difficult things in an easy to understand way that wasn’t graphic or unnecessary in its depiction and got the point across. Good for ages middle school and older. Great historical value in reading this for all ages great book. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy.

This book has serious topics like trafficking, and slavery. It's addressed to younger audiences, and I think that it didn't served the purpose of it. I wouldn't recommend this book to an adult, because it's all over the place. Also I wouldn't recommend this book to a younger audience because it doesn't addresses the said topics like it should be conveyed. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful story, but not greatly executed.

I find it very hard to pinpoint why this book didn't work for me. The subject is interesting. I actually really liked the beginning, where we follow Tien Fu and how she experience slavery. It was very well-written and impactful.

It was the later parts that I didn't enjoy quite as much, when we start following Dolly. Who is super amazing, and all the girls cling to her, and everyone wants her to lead the mission house despite her being literally the newest worker there. I think this is partly because we barely see any of the other workers. Two translators are mentioned by name, and while you'd think the girls would cling to the people who can actually speak their language, only Tien Fu seems to do so, as far as we know.

We also have a part where Dolly goes out of her way to hug all the girls, including Tien Fu, who doesn't like her, and I guess it's suposed to be a cute moment, but all I could think is why would you force abused girls to hug you? Especially the one who you know doesn't like you? Am I supposed to believe all the girls were just okay with that, even the ones who were new and barely spoke English? Because I really don't think that's something you should do. I know it's nitpicky but it bothered me a lot, as someone who doesn't like hugs from people I don't know.

The topic is a very important one, but I don't think it's always described very well. One of the most interesting and confusing parts was when the police arrested one of the girls. Dolly was her legal guardian, but somehow the girl got taken from prison and released to a random dude who paid the ransom, who then kidnapped the girl and forced her to marry him? Despite her being underage without a guardian? I can totally believe there were corrupt police officers, but nothing gets explained... And then there suddenly is a riot because of this incident despite this happening a lot.

I think that's my biggest issue with this book, it doesn't really feel like one story. It feels like a bunch of scenes that have the same characters, but don't really flow together as well as I would like, which makes the story feel a bit disjointed. Add to that the simple language to contrast with the heavy topics and it just feels a bit lost.

While I think this is an important topic to talk about, I don't really think this book works as well as I would have liked.

I'm going to have to read the adult version of this novel. I was very moved by the real life people written about here.. How they endured so much but still were able to have some happiness in their life in the end.
It just breaks my heart that these poor girls and women had to endure so much.
I think the subject matter of this is very important. However, I don't think it translates well into teen fiction. The language was a bit too naive and simplistic. It's hard to describe. I really thought I was reading a middle grade except for the mentions of prostitution.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Paper Daughters of Chinatown” is a juvenile level adaptation of the historical novel of the same name by Heather B. Moore, written by the original author and Allison Hong Merrill. It retells the historical story of Tien Fu Wu a girl sold by her father to brokers in America and Dolly Cameron a teacher at a mission home in San Francisco who rescue orphaned Chinese girls from their “owners”. While I felt like the book sometimes moved at too fast a pace to include all of its plot points, I still thought the adaptation for a younger audience was well done. Difficult topics like abuse, prostitution, and slavery are described and discussed in age appropriate terms and with honesty. The book tries to center the experiences of the Chinese girls, especially Tien Fu and does not veer into praising Miss Cameron and her fellow mission workers as a white saviors. One of the minor character is shown to have this mentality and is condemned by the characters for her views. Tien Fu and Dolly’s relationship was very touching. Tien Fu overcomes the traumas of her past with Dolly’s kind and understanding mentorship and together they go on to save even more young Chinese women. I believe this book can be enjoyed by young and old readers and sheds light on a part of lesser known American history.