Ghost Train (book)

Last updated
Ghost Train
Ghost Train cover photo by Paul Yee and Harvey Chan.jpg
Ghost Train by Paul Yee cover of book
Author Paul Yee
IllustratorHarvey Chan
Cover artistHarvey Chan
LanguageEnglish
SubjectChildren's Literature
Published1996
Publication placeCanada

Ghost Train is a children's picture book by Chinese-Canadian historian and writer Paul Yee. It is illustrated with oil paintings by Chinese-Canadian artist Harvey Chan. The book was first published in 1996.

Contents

Plot

The story, first published in Canada, is told through the eyes of a young girl, Choon-yi, born to poor peasants in southern China. She has only one arm, and her mother rejects her, but her father loves her dearly and encourages her artistic gift. When she is 12, her father leaves for America to work on the railway being built through the mountains. After two years he sends her money to join him, but when she gets there, she learns that her father has died. He appears to her in a dream and asks her to paint him on the train he built. The full-page paintings show her traveling on the hurtling engines; they represent the power of the railroad and the sorrow of the men who died building it, their clothing stained with mud and blood. [1]

Awards

Adaptation

Ghost Train was adapted as a play by Betty Quan and performed by the Young People's Theatre in Toronto in 2001. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace Edwards</span> Canadian childrens author and illustrator

Wallace Edwards was a Canadian children’s author and illustrator whose imagination transformed the world of animals and strange creatures for a generation of children. His illustrations don’t condescend to children, they engage the imagination on multiple levels, blending childhood whimsy with adult sophistication."

The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, one each for writers and illustrators of English- and French-language books. The Governor General's Awards program is administered by the Canada Council.

Kathleen Margaret "Kit" Pearson is a Canadian writer and winner of numerous literature awards. Pearson wrote the linked novels The Sky Is Falling (1989), Looking at the Moon (1991), and The Lights Go on Again (1993), published in 1999 as The Guests of War Trilogy, and Awake and Dreaming (1996), which won the 1997 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Louise Gay</span> Canadian illustrator and childrens writer (born 1952)

Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her written and illustrated works in both French and English, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, multiple Governor General's Awards, and multiple Janet Savage Blachford Prizes, among others.

Sarah Ellis is a Canadian children's writer and librarian. She has been a librarian in Toronto and Vancouver. She has also written reviews for Quill and Quire. She taught writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a masthead reviewer for The Horn Book.

William Edwin Bell was a Canadian author of young adult fiction, born in Toronto, Ontario. He lived in Orillia, Ontario.

Paul Yee is a Chinese-Canadian historian and writer. He is the author of many books for children, including Teach Me to Fly, Skyfighter, The Curses of Third Uncle, Dead Man's Gold, and Ghost Train—winner of the 1996 Governor General's Award for English language children's literature. In 2012, the Writers' Trust of Canada awarded Paul Yee the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People in recognition of having "contributed uniquely and powerfully to our literary landscape over a writing career that spans almost 30 years".

Duncan Weller is a Canadian writer and visual artist known for his children's picture books. He writes poetry, short stories, and novels for young people and adults. His visual art is displayed often in solo and group shows. Duncan won two of Canada's top awards, a Governor General's Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award, for his picture book The Boy from the Sun.

Julie Johnston is a Canadian writer. She was raised in Smiths Falls, Ontario, in the Ottawa Valley. She studied at the University of Toronto. She now lives in Peterborough, Ontario.

Laura Maria Fernandez is a Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, artist, radio host, and real estate agent. Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. In 2003, she was named Best Soft Rock musician at the New York International Independent Music Festival. She hosts Café Latino on JazzFM91, Toronto, and her Latin-music was produced by Billy Bryans.

<i>Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me</i> (Johnston novel) 1994 young adult novel by Julie Johnston

Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me is a young adult novel written by Julie Johnston and published in 1994 by Lester in Toronto. The book was awarded the Governor General's Award for Text in Children's Literature in 1994, the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award in 1995, and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award, also in 1995.

Julie Flett is a Cree-Métis author and illustrator, known for her work in children's literature centered around the life and cultures of Indigenous Canadians. Flett is best known for her illustrations in books such as Little You, and When We were Alone, as well as for her written work in books such as Birdsong. Many of Flett's books are bilingual, and written in a combination of English, Michif, and Cree, and serve as an introduction to Michif and Cree for English-speaking readers. Flett's works are critically successful and have been awarded the Governor General's Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.

Claire Mackay was a Canadian writer of eleven books for children and young-adult fiction and non-fiction.

Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author for children, adolescents and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.

Teresa Toten is a Canadian writer.

Joanne Fitzgerald was a Canadian artist, illustrator and writer. Twice-shortlisted for the Canadian Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration, her book Dr. Kiss Says Yes won the award in 1991.


Frieda Wishinsky is a German-born Canadian educator and author of children's books.

Kim LaFave is a Canadian children's book illustrator and artist. LaFave started his illustration career in media before his first children's drawings appeared in the 1981 book The Mare's Egg. From the 1980s to 2000s, his drawings appeared in over 40 children's books. As an artist, LaFave painted landscapes, boats and snow from the 2000s to 2020s. He also was a member of Eleven Equal Artists during the 2010s.

Paul Morin is a Canadian artist and children's book illustrator. Morin started painting in 1977 before working as a freelancer throughout the 1980s. In 1990, Morin began his children's book illustrative career and had contributed to twenty books by the mid-2010s. Of his illustrations, Morin won the 1990 Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration with The Orphan Boy. He also received the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award for The Orphan Boy in 1991 and The Dragon's Pearl in 1993. As an artist, Morin established multiple art galleries in Ontario from the late 2000s to early 2010s. He also designed the food packaging for the maple leaf cream cookies for Dare Foods.

<i>Firefly</i> (novel) Novel by Philippa Dowding

Firefly is a novel written by Canadian author Philippa Dowding, and published in 2021 by DCB / Cormorant Books in Toronto, Ontario. It won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Young People’s Literature - Text.

References

  1. Rochman, Hazel, Ghost Train, Gale Literature Resource Center, 23 October 2013
  2. "Governor General's Literary Awards: Table of winners, 1936–1999
  3. Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards Award Recipients 1976–2016
  4. Ouzounian, Richard (April 23, 2001). "Gifted creative team rides artful Ghost Train". Toronto Star. p. C.05. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  5. Walker, Susan (April 16, 2001). "Forgotten heroes: New play, opera tell the story of the Chinese workers who built Canada's national railway". Toronto Star. p. E.01. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2010.