Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories

by Paul Yee, Harvey Chan (Illustrator)

These ten original ghost stories dramatize the tumultuous history of 140 years of Chinese immigration to North America - from the poor village men who first cam searching for gold in the late 1850s to the new immigrants who arrived from Hong Kong in the wake of the Communist victory in China. As with the award-winning collection, Tales from Gold Mountain, Paul Yee's stories are fiction by told in the style of the traditional folktales that were shared with fellow men in the bachelor halls or with children and grandchildren at family banquets. But they are also ghost stories, a popular Chinese narrative form.

The characters in these stories are men and women, rich and poor, greedy and good, young and old - all Chinese immigrants struggling to make new lives for themselves in North America. Yet wherever they go, they are followed by reminders of their home country - the curse of a friend betrayed, the ghost of a faithful spouse, the spirit of a dead parent.

Accompanied by eerie,evocative plates by award-winning illustrator Harvey Chan, these tales provide young readers with a New World mythology of immigrant stories.

Genres: Young Adult, Short Stories, Horror

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Paul Yee never planned to be an author but got published in 1983 and followed up with over twenty books in his area of obsession: Chinese immigrants to North America. He wrote mostly for young readers, from picture books to Young Adult fiction, as well as histories for everyone. His university degrees in history, plus working as an archivist, plunged him into researching the past. His work has been translated into French and Chinese, and used in animated films as well as stage plays. Born in small-town prairie Canada, he grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, but Toronto tempted him away from that west coast paradise in 1988.

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating take on the history of Asian immigration to North America

DEAD MAN’S GOLD is a collection of ten short ghost stories related to the history of 19th and early 20th century Chinese immigration to North America. Written in a style that emulates a story-teller’s passing on Chinese folk tales around a kitchen table, to children at bedtime, or even around a campfire (if the Chinese indulge in such things), Yee’s tales are short and sweet. But they are many, many other things as well – tragic, chilling, eerie, heartwarming, entertaining, heartbreaking, instructive, informative, evocative, humorous, poignant, elegant, sad, gentle, fascinating, and quite compelling - to mention only a handful of characterizations that come to mind. Modern readers with any heart, compassion, and tolerance will also be shamefacedly reminded of the fact that anti-Asian racism is undeniably a part of North American history.

Definitely recommended. And now I must see if I can find any other work from the same author.

Paul Weiss

[Gavin Zimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining stories of Chinese immigrants coming to North America! They are full of emotion and do a great job of describing different difficulties different families had when moving.

[Tyler Obenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read a excellent book, Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories by Paul Yee. Their is many short ghost stories in it. Their is many different unique characters in these stories .The best parts of the stories is when their is stuff about ghosts in them and when there is mystery in the stories. Their are many cool different main characters in the stories. I liked this book because it's very entertaining and interesting. If you like books about horror or mystery, then I highly recommend you to read this book.

[Monique Attrux · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of stories that progressively trace the history and evolution of the Chinese Canadian community.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small collection of ghost stories written by the author and based on the ghost stories told by Chinese immigrants to Vancouver. A fascinating way to learn about different facets of Chinese immigrant history, and genuinely good stories. So many of them are a bit heartbreaking - displaced ghosts wandering unhappily in logging camps and hiding migrant detention centres.

[Sol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good read! I enjoyed all stories though it broke me and left me devastated. I can feel, see and smell the scenario in every stories. This is my first finished book and encouraged me to read more.

[2Andres · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not really like this book because it just really talks about the king.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting stories

[Erin Schwane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The stories get better as the book progresses.