In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

Last updated
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.jpg
First edition
Author Bette Bao Lord
Illustrator Marc Simont
Genre Realistic Fiction
Publisher Harper & Row
Publication date
1984
Pages170
ISBN 978-0064401753

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson is a children's novel by Bette Bao Lord and illustrator Marc Simont about a young girl named Shirley Temple Wong who leaves a secure life within her clan in China following World War II.

In 1947, the Year of the Boar, Sixth Cousin, also known as Bandit, leaves China with her parents for a new beginning in America. Proud of the American name that she chose herself, Shirley Temple Wong is optimistic that her new home will be the land of many opportunities. But it's harder than she expected. Though her classmates in Brooklyn come from a variety of backgrounds, Shirley is the only one who doesn't speak English, and she worries that she will never have a friend. Then she gets in a fight with Mabel, the tallest, scariest girl in the fifth grade. Though Shirley winds up with two black eyes, she is faithful to the code of childhood and doesn't tell anyone what happened. Her silence gains her the respect and friendship of Mabel, who gives her the gift that truly changes her life: baseball. Soon Shirley is the biggest Brooklyn Dodgers fan of all, listening to the radio to hear the triumphs and heartbreaks of the team and her hero, Jackie Robinson. Meanwhile, she takes piano lessons from her landlord, Señora Rodriguez, and saves money by baby-sitting Mrs. O'Reilly's triplets. She begins to feel at home, and yet deep within herself Shirley discovers that she wants to hold on to her memories of China, and the knowledge that she is Chinese inside, as well as American. She can be both — a "double happiness." However, when Shirley is sad, there is always someone painting.

Related Research Articles

<i>Piccadilly</i> (film) 1929 film

Piccadilly is a 1929 British silent and sound drama film directed by E.A. Dupont, written by Arnold Bennett and starring Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, and Jameson Thomas. The film was shot on location in London, produced by British International Pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Chisholm</span> American politician (1924–2005)

Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional district, a district centered in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major-party nomination for President of the United States and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Throughout her career, she was known for taking "a resolute stand against economic, social, and political injustices," as well as being a strong supporter of black civil rights and women's rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna May Wong</span> American actress (1905–1961)

Wong Liu Tsong, known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition. Her varied career spanned silent film, sound film, television, stage, and radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Temple</span> American actress and diplomat (1928–2014)

Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was named United States Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia, and also served as Chief of Protocol of the United States.

<i>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</i> (novel) 1943 semi-autobiographical novel by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1943 semi-autobiographical novel written by Betty Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Withers</span> American actress and childrens radio show host (1926–2021)

Jane Withers was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for box-office gross in 1937 and 1938.

Bette Bao Lord is a Chinese-born American writer and civic activist for human rights and democracy.

Kelly Jane Shirley, known professionally as Kellie Shirley is an English actress who works in film, television, theatre and radio. She hails from Croydon via a large Northern Irish family. She has also co-presented programmes for BBC2 and Channel 5. She is probably best known for her roles as Kirsty De La Croix in Sky One returning, comedy series In the Long Run created by Idris Elba. And for the role of Carly Wicks in the BBC continuing drama EastEnders and as Kym in The Office Christmas Specials.

<i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Allan Dwan

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Dwan, and written by Don Ettlinger, Karl Tunberg, Ben Markson and William M. Conselman, the third adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggin's 1903 novel of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Robinson (character)</span> Fictional character in DC universe

Holly Robinson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Holly Robinson is a frequent ally and sidekick of Catwoman. She was trained by Wildcat and her friend Selina Kyle, and temporarily became the new Catwoman following the birth of Selina's daughter.

<i>An Autumns Tale</i> 1987 film

An Autumn's Tale is a 1987 Hong Kong romantic drama film set in New York City starring Chow Yun-fat, Cherie Chung, and Danny Chan. The film is the second entry in Mabel Cheung's "migration trilogy."

<i>Heidi</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Allan Dwan

Heidi is a 1937 American musical drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Julien Josephson and Walter Ferris, loosely based on Johanna Spyri's 1880 children's book of the same name. The film stars Shirley Temple as the titular orphan, who is taken from her grandfather to live as a companion to Klara, a spoiled, disabled girl. It was a success and Temple enjoyed her third consecutive year as number one box office draw.

<i>Bunty</i> British comic

Bunty was a British comic for girls published by D. C. Thomson & Co. from 1958 to 2001. It consisted of a collection of many small strips, the stories typically being three to five pages long. In contrast to earlier and contemporary comics, it was aimed primarily at working-class readers under the age of 14, and contained mostly fictional stories. Well-known regular strips from Bunty include The Four Marys, Bunty — A Girl Like You, Moira Kent, Lorna Drake, Luv, Lisa, The Comp, and Penny's Place.

<i>Stowaway</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by William A. Seiter

Stowaway is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay by William M. Conselman, Nat Perrin, and Arthur Sheekman is based on a story by Samuel G. Engel. The film is about a young orphan called "Ching Ching" who meets wealthy playboy Tommy Randall in Shanghai and then accidentally stows away on the ocean liner he is travelling on. The film was hugely successful, and is available on videocassette and DVD.

<i>Poor Little Rich Girl</i> (1936 film) 1936 US musical film directed by Irving Cummings

Poor Little Rich Girl, advertised as The Poor Little Rich Girl, is a 1936 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye and Jack Haley. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend was based on stories by Eleanor Gates and Ralph Spence, and the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name. The film focuses on a child (Temple) neglected by her rich and busy father. She meets two vaudeville performers and becomes a radio singing star. The film received a lukewarm critical reception from The New York Times.

<i>Bad Blood</i> (2010 film) 2010 Hong Kong film

Bad Blood is a 2010 martial arts-crime film written, produced and directed by Dennis Law. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Simon Yam, Bernice Liu and Andy On. Bad Blood centers on a Triad gang as the members plot and scheme against each other to become the gang's new leader, after the death of their boss. The film was released in Hong Kong on 21 January 2010.

<i>Susannah of the Mounties</i> (film) 1939 film by William A. Seiter, Walter Lang

Susannah of the Mounties is a 1939 American Western film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, and Margaret Lockwood. Based on the 1936 novel Susannah of the Mounties by Muriel Denison, the film is about an orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West who is taken in by a Mountie and his girlfriend. Following additional Indian attacks, the Mountie is saved from the stake by the young girl's intervention with the Indian chief.

<i>One Crazy Summer</i> (novel) 2010 novel by Rita Williams-Garcia

One Crazy Summer is a historical fiction novel by American author Rita Williams-Garcia, published by Amistad in 2010. The novel is about Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, three sisters, visiting their mother in Oakland, California, during the summer of 1968.

<i>Ginger</i> (1935 film) 1935 film directed by Lewis Seiler

Ginger is a 1935 American comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and written by Arthur Kober. The film stars Jane Withers, O. P. Heggie, Jackie Searl, Katharine Alexander, and Walter Woolf King. It was Withers' first starring role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mabel Ping-Hua Lee</span> Chinese advocate for womens suffrage in the United States

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was a Chinese-American women's rights activist and minister who campaigned for women's suffrage in the United States. Later in life, Lee became a Baptist minister, working with the First Chinese Baptist Church in Chinatown.

References