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Paper Daughter
Maggie Chen was born with ink in her blood. Her journalist father has fired her imagination with the thrill of the newsroom, and when her father is killed, she is determined to keep his dreams alive by interning at the local newspaper.
While assisting on her first story, Maggie learns that her father is suspected of illegal activity, and she knows she must clear his name. Drawn to Seattle's Chinatown, she discovers things that are far from what she expected — secrets, lies, and a connection to the Chinese Exclusion Era. Using all of her newspaper instincts and resources, Maggie is forced to confront her ethnicity — and a family she never knew.
215 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
About the author
Jeanette Ingold
9 books24 followers I love road trips and museums, mountains and woods, libraries and old houses, mysterious photographs, and people with stories to tell. I’m a Montanan who grew up in New York in a family of Texans. I’ve a husband, two kids, a pair of grandkids, and a dog named Mica. Most of my best friends are other writers, and my days don’t feel right when I don’t begin them by putting words on the page. And that all leads to books.
Many of those road trips have been to national parks where I’ve seen countless small signs saying that CCC youth build this turnout or that lodge. They made me curious about who those young people were and why they worked so hard.
The result was HITCH, a novel that brings one of my most-beloved Texas characters, Moss Trawnley, to a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in central Montana. I’m pleased to report that the newest edition of HITCH is a great audiobook recording from Audible.
Young people tackling hard jobs is a theme that runs through all of my novels. THE BIG BURN first brought my writing home to the Northwest. This is a place where forest fires shape land and lives and where young people like my son in his college days sometimes spend their summers on fire crews.
I was delighted when VOYA called this fictional account of the terrible 1910 wildfires “a must-read for adrenalin junkies,” but I hope it will also provoke thought about some of the factors that lie behind the forest fires of today.
PAPER DAUGHTER, my newest novel, tells two stories of teens making their way in the adult world. One is a Chinese immigrant living under a false identity in Exclusion Era days. The other is Maggie Chen, an intern at a Seattle newspaper. I had fun writing her experiences there. My own first writing job was in a newsroom, and looking back, I have to think I couldn’t have asked for a better place to hone my craft.
I don’t put my life into my books, exactly, but bits and pieces do, of course, make their way in, reshaped and sometimes carried far beyond where I might have gone.
MOUNTAIN SOLO is about a passion for music—for a violin, especially—and about the hard choices that can come with great talent. I’ve played mine only enough—in high school and now picked up again--to have a huge respect for anyone who works hard at learning an instrument.
THE WINDOW is about a different kind of courage—the kind needed by a teenage girl facing blindness. It was my first book and, along with two others, is set in Texas. The heroine, Mandy, finds support in family and family stories, and that’s another theme that I like to explore.
Mine was an airline family, and the tales my mom and dad told led me to write AIRFIELD. It’s about two teens who talk themselves into jobs at a small airport in the sometimes romantic, sometimes terrifying early days of commercial aviation.
And finally there’s PICTURES, 1918, to be released as an eBook later this year. I wrote it wanting to put my grandmother’s voice on paper, as well to capture the magic of photography, whether it’s done with an old-fashioned film camera or on the newest phone. I hope you’ll look for it and let me know what you think!
Many of those road trips have been to national parks where I’ve seen countless small signs saying that CCC youth build this turnout or that lodge. They made me curious about who those young people were and why they worked so hard.
The result was HITCH, a novel that brings one of my most-beloved Texas characters, Moss Trawnley, to a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in central Montana. I’m pleased to report that the newest edition of HITCH is a great audiobook recording from Audible.
Young people tackling hard jobs is a theme that runs through all of my novels. THE BIG BURN first brought my writing home to the Northwest. This is a place where forest fires shape land and lives and where young people like my son in his college days sometimes spend their summers on fire crews.
I was delighted when VOYA called this fictional account of the terrible 1910 wildfires “a must-read for adrenalin junkies,” but I hope it will also provoke thought about some of the factors that lie behind the forest fires of today.
PAPER DAUGHTER, my newest novel, tells two stories of teens making their way in the adult world. One is a Chinese immigrant living under a false identity in Exclusion Era days. The other is Maggie Chen, an intern at a Seattle newspaper. I had fun writing her experiences there. My own first writing job was in a newsroom, and looking back, I have to think I couldn’t have asked for a better place to hone my craft.
I don’t put my life into my books, exactly, but bits and pieces do, of course, make their way in, reshaped and sometimes carried far beyond where I might have gone.
MOUNTAIN SOLO is about a passion for music—for a violin, especially—and about the hard choices that can come with great talent. I’ve played mine only enough—in high school and now picked up again--to have a huge respect for anyone who works hard at learning an instrument.
THE WINDOW is about a different kind of courage—the kind needed by a teenage girl facing blindness. It was my first book and, along with two others, is set in Texas. The heroine, Mandy, finds support in family and family stories, and that’s another theme that I like to explore.
Mine was an airline family, and the tales my mom and dad told led me to write AIRFIELD. It’s about two teens who talk themselves into jobs at a small airport in the sometimes romantic, sometimes terrifying early days of commercial aviation.
And finally there’s PICTURES, 1918, to be released as an eBook later this year. I wrote it wanting to put my grandmother’s voice on paper, as well to capture the magic of photography, whether it’s done with an old-fashioned film camera or on the newest phone. I hope you’ll look for it and let me know what you think!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
April 10, 2010
First of all - beautiful cover. It caught my eye instantly and I was so excited to receive the opportunity to read and review this book.
Paper Daughter is a double entendre. At first the book appears to be a story of a young woman, the daughter of a newspaper reporter who was killed suddenly. She has plans to follow in her father's footsteps and becomes involved in investigating an interesting story about her local government.
In addition, Paper Daughter or Paper Son has another meaning.
Q: What is a "Paper Son"?
A: "Paper Son" was a term coined for young Chinese males attempting to enter the United States on identity papers that were bought for them. The identity papers were established by American citizens of Chinese descent who left the US to travel back to China. Upon returning, they would claim a marriage and the birth of several sons. Years later, these young Chinese males would appear claiming to be the sons of these citizens. In fact, a substantial number of these boys were sons "on paper only", thus the term "Paper Son". (from http://www.paperson.com/faqs.htm)
This short, to-the-point book had every ingredient necessary for an interesting novel. I read it in a single sitting and will be encouraging the teens that I know to check it out as well.
Paper Daughter is a double entendre. At first the book appears to be a story of a young woman, the daughter of a newspaper reporter who was killed suddenly. She has plans to follow in her father's footsteps and becomes involved in investigating an interesting story about her local government.
In addition, Paper Daughter or Paper Son has another meaning.
Q: What is a "Paper Son"?
A: "Paper Son" was a term coined for young Chinese males attempting to enter the United States on identity papers that were bought for them. The identity papers were established by American citizens of Chinese descent who left the US to travel back to China. Upon returning, they would claim a marriage and the birth of several sons. Years later, these young Chinese males would appear claiming to be the sons of these citizens. In fact, a substantial number of these boys were sons "on paper only", thus the term "Paper Son". (from http://www.paperson.com/faqs.htm)
This short, to-the-point book had every ingredient necessary for an interesting novel. I read it in a single sitting and will be encouraging the teens that I know to check it out as well.
June 23, 2020
This story was incredibly formulaic, and the plot was interesting enough that I wish it wouldn't have been. In fact, I wish it had been 2-3 times longer and more epic.
Paper Daughter was ambitious in scope, spanning just about a century and four generations of a family from China to America. It taught me a few new things about American history, in particular the phenomenon of "paper sons" who would falsify relationships with American-born Chinese in the early twentieth century in order to secure immigration. The story's title, Paper Daughter, is a cute word play on this -- the protagonist is an intern journalist at a newspaper, who discovers intrigue within her family tree following the death of her father.
Unfortunately, instead of Joy Luck Club for the middle-school reader, this seemeed more like the sort of historical fiction that a teacher assigns as part of a "diverse America" unit. SO MANY potentially fascinating interactions and situations were glossed over or omitted completely. The theme of being an illegal immigrant living in fear of deportation was covered incessantly and shallowly.
Honestly, this was a great story set-up, and a nice combination of historical fiction, family saga and mystery. It read like an abridgment, however, and for that it suffered.
I learned something important but had unanswered questions. Stories could have been more drawn out. This struck me as the sort of book students are assigned to write reports on.
Paper Daughter was ambitious in scope, spanning just about a century and four generations of a family from China to America. It taught me a few new things about American history, in particular the phenomenon of "paper sons" who would falsify relationships with American-born Chinese in the early twentieth century in order to secure immigration. The story's title, Paper Daughter, is a cute word play on this -- the protagonist is an intern journalist at a newspaper, who discovers intrigue within her family tree following the death of her father.
Unfortunately, instead of Joy Luck Club for the middle-school reader, this seemeed more like the sort of historical fiction that a teacher assigns as part of a "diverse America" unit. SO MANY potentially fascinating interactions and situations were glossed over or omitted completely. The theme of being an illegal immigrant living in fear of deportation was covered incessantly and shallowly.
Honestly, this was a great story set-up, and a nice combination of historical fiction, family saga and mystery. It read like an abridgment, however, and for that it suffered.
I learned something important but had unanswered questions. Stories could have been more drawn out. This struck me as the sort of book students are assigned to write reports on.
January 9, 2012
Sasha Ernst
Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold
The book Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold is about a girl named Maggie Chen, who is an intern at a Seattle newspaper company, whose father, a journalist, was recently killed in a hit-and-run accident. With all the stress of starting an internship, she has to go through all of his old papers and documents to find that he was researching a “family project”, and his old college supposedly doesn’t have any record of him, which gets Maggie thinking. Maggie decides to finish his family project by trying to find out who her father really was and who her real family might be. While doing all of this, she still has her internship to worry about and somehow her father is connected to her first project at the newspaper company and the Chinese Exclusion Act. She battles against herself, her mother, her father’s past, and even the other intern, Jillian. Maggie fights against herself because she does not want to find out that her father lied to her all these years but wants to finish what he started and clear his name of the illegal crime he is accused of. Her mother does not want to believe that Maggie’s father was involved with this illegal story and that he was a honest, good man, but that is not what everyone is lead to believe anymore. Plus her and the other intern are fighting to make the best impression at the newspaper company. In-between Maggie’s story, there is the story of Chinese twins Fai-yi and Sucheng Li. Flashbacks to 1932, recall how the twins entered the United States using a “paper father,” which is a way of getting around the laws prohibiting Chinese immigration. In the end, the two stories come together and finally Maggie finds the truth about her father and her real family. This story is based on true events in history but with a twist of modern day. It made the story exciting that the author never told you what really was going on until the end, and it was a complete mystery but an adventure as well. This was really a great book but at some parts very confusing. There are many twists in this book that are hard to grasp at first but are cleared up at the end. This book also shows the inside of what journalism is really like and really could persuade someone to be a journalist. It shares what the newspaper presses look like and how stressful working for a newspaper company can be. It also gives many life lessons like, not to lie because you can end up hurting someone you really care about and even the good people can get caught up in the bad things but that is just part of life. I would recommend this book for kids between the ages of thirteen to sixteen because it would be easy to relate to and the reading level is a little hard and confusing but would be a good challenge for that age. Jeanette Ingold took two stories and made them into one, and that is what really made this book special. It is an interesting, factual, well-written book that many people should have a chance to read.
Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold
The book Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold is about a girl named Maggie Chen, who is an intern at a Seattle newspaper company, whose father, a journalist, was recently killed in a hit-and-run accident. With all the stress of starting an internship, she has to go through all of his old papers and documents to find that he was researching a “family project”, and his old college supposedly doesn’t have any record of him, which gets Maggie thinking. Maggie decides to finish his family project by trying to find out who her father really was and who her real family might be. While doing all of this, she still has her internship to worry about and somehow her father is connected to her first project at the newspaper company and the Chinese Exclusion Act. She battles against herself, her mother, her father’s past, and even the other intern, Jillian. Maggie fights against herself because she does not want to find out that her father lied to her all these years but wants to finish what he started and clear his name of the illegal crime he is accused of. Her mother does not want to believe that Maggie’s father was involved with this illegal story and that he was a honest, good man, but that is not what everyone is lead to believe anymore. Plus her and the other intern are fighting to make the best impression at the newspaper company. In-between Maggie’s story, there is the story of Chinese twins Fai-yi and Sucheng Li. Flashbacks to 1932, recall how the twins entered the United States using a “paper father,” which is a way of getting around the laws prohibiting Chinese immigration. In the end, the two stories come together and finally Maggie finds the truth about her father and her real family. This story is based on true events in history but with a twist of modern day. It made the story exciting that the author never told you what really was going on until the end, and it was a complete mystery but an adventure as well. This was really a great book but at some parts very confusing. There are many twists in this book that are hard to grasp at first but are cleared up at the end. This book also shows the inside of what journalism is really like and really could persuade someone to be a journalist. It shares what the newspaper presses look like and how stressful working for a newspaper company can be. It also gives many life lessons like, not to lie because you can end up hurting someone you really care about and even the good people can get caught up in the bad things but that is just part of life. I would recommend this book for kids between the ages of thirteen to sixteen because it would be easy to relate to and the reading level is a little hard and confusing but would be a good challenge for that age. Jeanette Ingold took two stories and made them into one, and that is what really made this book special. It is an interesting, factual, well-written book that many people should have a chance to read.
December 26, 2014
Maggie Chen and her father were close. He passed down his journalistic acumen to her--killer instincts and an innate need to illuminate truth. So when the prep school he allegedly attended claims no record of him after his untimely death, she grows suspicious. However, she has little time for sleuthing--she has been selected for a summer internship at her local newspaper and spends four days per week supporting the newsroom staff. When Maggie and another journalist uncover a juicy political corruption story that intersects with the day of her father's death, she begins to dig deeper into her father's past.
Maggie is no wishy-washy YA heroine. She is savvy and hard-working. There are no superfluous boys in the story to sap her of her ambition or distract her from her quest for truth. She remains devoted to this quest, willing to travel well beyond her comfort zone to learn the truth about her father, whose origins are called increasingly into question by her research. She also forges an unlikely friendship with Jillian, the fellow intern who has been a thorn in her side from day one. The two help one another to stop hiding from themselves.
Perhaps most interesting about this story (to me, anyway), was the exploration of the twenty-first-century newsroom. The author highlights some of the key challenges facing today's journalists and editors, a subject I research and write about at my own day job. Advertisers are pulling out of print newspapers. Editors and publishers who have cut their teeth on print must adapt to digital technology and learn to generate multiple revenue streams online. Lean staffs must make do with limited resources. The only unrealistic component of the newspaper storyline was the fact that Maggie and Jillian, two high school interns, received paychecks. These days, it is difficult enough to find minimum-wage internships in magazines and books, let alone newspapers, arguably the most troubled sector of print media. Otherwise, the author does a nice job of highlighting these issues in a manner accessible to young readers.
(Disclaimer: I received the galley proofs of this title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review.)
Maggie is no wishy-washy YA heroine. She is savvy and hard-working. There are no superfluous boys in the story to sap her of her ambition or distract her from her quest for truth. She remains devoted to this quest, willing to travel well beyond her comfort zone to learn the truth about her father, whose origins are called increasingly into question by her research. She also forges an unlikely friendship with Jillian, the fellow intern who has been a thorn in her side from day one. The two help one another to stop hiding from themselves.
Perhaps most interesting about this story (to me, anyway), was the exploration of the twenty-first-century newsroom. The author highlights some of the key challenges facing today's journalists and editors, a subject I research and write about at my own day job. Advertisers are pulling out of print newspapers. Editors and publishers who have cut their teeth on print must adapt to digital technology and learn to generate multiple revenue streams online. Lean staffs must make do with limited resources. The only unrealistic component of the newspaper storyline was the fact that Maggie and Jillian, two high school interns, received paychecks. These days, it is difficult enough to find minimum-wage internships in magazines and books, let alone newspapers, arguably the most troubled sector of print media. Otherwise, the author does a nice job of highlighting these issues in a manner accessible to young readers.
(Disclaimer: I received the galley proofs of this title from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review.)
January 11, 2022
The ebook with ISBN:9780547487892 is filled with typos and errors. This is fairly typical of Houghton Mifflin ebooks. Most pages had at least one error present.
Some examples:
planning].
father.!
ap-81proval
stuff."9
The ebook reads more like an unproofed OCR scan than a finished book. Very disappointing, I'm thankful that I borrowed it from the public library instead of purchasing it.
If you liked this book you might also enjoy:
✱ When the Emperor Was Divine
✱ The Buddha in the Attic
✱ Obasan
✱ Tallgrass
✱ Weedflower
✱ Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Some examples:
planning].
father.!
ap-81proval
stuff."9
The ebook reads more like an unproofed OCR scan than a finished book. Very disappointing, I'm thankful that I borrowed it from the public library instead of purchasing it.
If you liked this book you might also enjoy:
✱ When the Emperor Was Divine
✱ The Buddha in the Attic
✱ Obasan
✱ Tallgrass
✱ Weedflower
✱ Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
February 10, 2021
When Steven Chen is killed in a hit and run accident, Maggie Chen thought his father just was at the wrong place at the wrong time eventhough she wondered why her father wandered into that particular area, the one he has no business to attend to.
Maggie's internship at Herald turn out more that she could ask for. She gained a friend and started to investigate the secrets of her father's death.
A very simple and straighforward book on how sometimes in life, certain questions might not have black and white answers. Sometimes the answers would be in shades of gray.
Maggie's internship at Herald turn out more that she could ask for. She gained a friend and started to investigate the secrets of her father's death.
A very simple and straighforward book on how sometimes in life, certain questions might not have black and white answers. Sometimes the answers would be in shades of gray.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2019
When I first checked out this book,it was hard to really get hooked. But,I decided to give a chance to read further. It is a mystery,which I like,but takes its time to get into it at first. In the end it was worth finish reading the book! I ended up liking the book and pulled me further with the main character on her journey to find clues. I do recommend this book to those who like to take things one thing at a time.
October 25, 2017
This book was good for learning about another culture for me. I am not aquatinted well with Chinese culture or the struggle of Chinese immigrants, so this book enlightened me with that. I like when a book delivers culture to a reader while providing a nice somewhat believable story.
October 25, 2018
My rating 3.5, worth reading
February 18, 2020
Mix of journalism and finding out father's past, with historical Chinese immigration interludes (more minimally developed)
February 17, 2022
Very enjoyable read
February 23, 2011
This book gives us mystery & crime; a strong female protagonist discovering her ethnicity, her father's secret, and a family she never knew; plenty of Newsroom reporter action; a peek at the History of Chinese immigration in America; and responsible journalism...WOW...that's a lot to roll into one book. The story opens with a mother and daughter coming to terms with the death of the father in a hit and run "accident." The daughter has just accepted a high school internship at the newspaper where her father worked as a journalist. In looking through some of her father's files she discovers that he was not who he said he was...his past holds secrets that change everything about who she thought she was.
The father's history unfolds in alternating chapters with the present story and I found that to be a little confusing and disjointed - just a little hard to follow. But it's all very interesting and intriguing as the daughter also gets caught up in solving a political mystery tied to her father's death.
In reading this book, I learned something about the history of our country's immigration laws that I didn't know. Paper sons were children who came to America during the Exclusion Era (1884-1943) when immigration was closed to the Chinese...except in the case of a Chinese parent (already in America) bringing over their children. The parent would fill out a paper form declaring the names of their children and then the children would be sent for. Of course, there were those who would (for a fee) act as the parent and falsely claim children in order to get around the laws. Those children (most often boys) were known as paper sons. Thus, the title and the story is a neatly crafted play on words - as she discovers that her father was indeed a true paper son, and she, following in his footsteps as a newspaper journalist, is a paper daughter.
The father's history unfolds in alternating chapters with the present story and I found that to be a little confusing and disjointed - just a little hard to follow. But it's all very interesting and intriguing as the daughter also gets caught up in solving a political mystery tied to her father's death.
In reading this book, I learned something about the history of our country's immigration laws that I didn't know. Paper sons were children who came to America during the Exclusion Era (1884-1943) when immigration was closed to the Chinese...except in the case of a Chinese parent (already in America) bringing over their children. The parent would fill out a paper form declaring the names of their children and then the children would be sent for. Of course, there were those who would (for a fee) act as the parent and falsely claim children in order to get around the laws. Those children (most often boys) were known as paper sons. Thus, the title and the story is a neatly crafted play on words - as she discovers that her father was indeed a true paper son, and she, following in his footsteps as a newspaper journalist, is a paper daughter.
June 20, 2010
*3.5*
Paper Daughter is one of those books that not only has the reader thoroughly engaged and entertained throughout the story, but teaches about a different time in history as well; a combination I always adore!
Paper Daughter tells the story of Maggie Chen, a girl who's coming to terms with the death of her prolific journalist father while making her own breakthrough into the journalism world and investing a troubling part of her father's past, and Fai-yi Li, a young boy who came over to America as a paper son in the 1930s, having ties to Maggie that neither could have possibly imagined.
I really liked both the main characters of Paper Daughter, and I felt that even with the split narration, I still got a really great feel of who they were. It would be unfair to pick favorites because each had diverse parts to them that made Paper Daughter the fabulous book it was. You see, Fai-yi Li brought to life a story of the past that taught me a thing or two I didn't know before, while Maggie's gave me an inside look into the world of journalism. Also, both brought emotional and lesson portions to the story that I enjoyed and think other's will as well.
While short, Paper Daughter still had a rock-solid plot, filled with mystery and suspension. The mystery was always a little basic and predictable, but it still had me flipping through the pages, eager to find out more about what it was that brought Maggie and Fay-yi together and what happened that one night months ago that brought Maggie's father's life to an tragic end. Lastly, Jeanette's writing always moved swiftly.
In all, Paper Daughter is a well-done mixing of historical and current times that I highly suggest you pick up the next time you see it at the library or bookstore.
Grade: B
Paper Daughter is one of those books that not only has the reader thoroughly engaged and entertained throughout the story, but teaches about a different time in history as well; a combination I always adore!
Paper Daughter tells the story of Maggie Chen, a girl who's coming to terms with the death of her prolific journalist father while making her own breakthrough into the journalism world and investing a troubling part of her father's past, and Fai-yi Li, a young boy who came over to America as a paper son in the 1930s, having ties to Maggie that neither could have possibly imagined.
I really liked both the main characters of Paper Daughter, and I felt that even with the split narration, I still got a really great feel of who they were. It would be unfair to pick favorites because each had diverse parts to them that made Paper Daughter the fabulous book it was. You see, Fai-yi Li brought to life a story of the past that taught me a thing or two I didn't know before, while Maggie's gave me an inside look into the world of journalism. Also, both brought emotional and lesson portions to the story that I enjoyed and think other's will as well.
While short, Paper Daughter still had a rock-solid plot, filled with mystery and suspension. The mystery was always a little basic and predictable, but it still had me flipping through the pages, eager to find out more about what it was that brought Maggie and Fay-yi together and what happened that one night months ago that brought Maggie's father's life to an tragic end. Lastly, Jeanette's writing always moved swiftly.
In all, Paper Daughter is a well-done mixing of historical and current times that I highly suggest you pick up the next time you see it at the library or bookstore.
Grade: B
April 16, 2010
Maggie Chen is a high school intern at the local news station, following in the footsteps of her father, who was recently killed in a car accident. when she stumbles upon some of her father's notes and a local politically motivated murder is uncovered, Maggie starts to piece together the coincidences into a big question about who her father really was.
Fai-yi and Sucheng Li, a brother and sister, fled to America in the midst of the Chinese Exclusion Act, when the U.S. began restricting Chinese immigration into the country in the post-gold rush era. they are considered paper children, illegally claimed as the children of Chinese Americans for a fee, allowing them to enter the country. as the two stories are told in alternating chapters, the story begins to unfold and Maggie finally begins to understand who her father was, and who she is.
the writing is clean and simple and the storyline is engaging, making for a quick read. although i didn't find the unfolding of events overly compelling in their presentation, the slight hints of mystery and family saga were enough to keep me reading. the characters were a little on the shallow side, but altogether believable. i think Paper Daughter was good, but not great, though the potential was definitely there. with the family history unfolding in front of this budding journalist, and with loads of cultural and historical significance, this could have been an amazing read. but, instead, it was just good.
in the end, i'm glad i read it, but wish that Ingold had been able to pull it all together into the stunning novel that this could have been. i'd still recommend it to anyone that has an interest in Chinese-American culture.
Fai-yi and Sucheng Li, a brother and sister, fled to America in the midst of the Chinese Exclusion Act, when the U.S. began restricting Chinese immigration into the country in the post-gold rush era. they are considered paper children, illegally claimed as the children of Chinese Americans for a fee, allowing them to enter the country. as the two stories are told in alternating chapters, the story begins to unfold and Maggie finally begins to understand who her father was, and who she is.
the writing is clean and simple and the storyline is engaging, making for a quick read. although i didn't find the unfolding of events overly compelling in their presentation, the slight hints of mystery and family saga were enough to keep me reading. the characters were a little on the shallow side, but altogether believable. i think Paper Daughter was good, but not great, though the potential was definitely there. with the family history unfolding in front of this budding journalist, and with loads of cultural and historical significance, this could have been an amazing read. but, instead, it was just good.
in the end, i'm glad i read it, but wish that Ingold had been able to pull it all together into the stunning novel that this could have been. i'd still recommend it to anyone that has an interest in Chinese-American culture.
November 13, 2012
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Her father would be so proud; at least that's what Maggie Chen hopes. He was a great newspaper reporter, and now Maggie has a coveted intern position at a local newspaper.
It hasn't been a year since Maggie's father, Steven Chen, was killed by a hit and run driver. The story is that he was lost and attempting to find his way home from a reporting assignment. Now, Maggie has a chance to move on and focus on something productive and at the same time follow in her father's reporter footsteps.
Her mother, busy teaching at the local university, thinks Maggie should relax this summer and have fun. She doesn't seem to want to listen as Maggie tells her how much this internship means, and besides, her friends are all off having their own summer experiences and aren't available to hang out. As she heads off for her first day, she hopes this summer will open new doors and help her feel even closer to her father.
The first day on the job doesn't go well, but Maggie is determined to prove herself. Her hard work pays off when she is sent on assignment with another reporter. Together they begin to unravel a mystery at city hall involving the planning commission and a contractor who may have connections to an unsolved murder. The catch is Maggie's father seems to be connected, too.
Author of PAPER DAUGHTER, Jeanette Ingold, creates a story-within-a-story. Maggie Chen is excited to prove herself as a future news reporter, and at the same time readers learn about her father's possible secret past. As the current scandal in city government is uncovered, another mystery makes itself known.
Her father would be so proud; at least that's what Maggie Chen hopes. He was a great newspaper reporter, and now Maggie has a coveted intern position at a local newspaper.
It hasn't been a year since Maggie's father, Steven Chen, was killed by a hit and run driver. The story is that he was lost and attempting to find his way home from a reporting assignment. Now, Maggie has a chance to move on and focus on something productive and at the same time follow in her father's reporter footsteps.
Her mother, busy teaching at the local university, thinks Maggie should relax this summer and have fun. She doesn't seem to want to listen as Maggie tells her how much this internship means, and besides, her friends are all off having their own summer experiences and aren't available to hang out. As she heads off for her first day, she hopes this summer will open new doors and help her feel even closer to her father.
The first day on the job doesn't go well, but Maggie is determined to prove herself. Her hard work pays off when she is sent on assignment with another reporter. Together they begin to unravel a mystery at city hall involving the planning commission and a contractor who may have connections to an unsolved murder. The catch is Maggie's father seems to be connected, too.
Author of PAPER DAUGHTER, Jeanette Ingold, creates a story-within-a-story. Maggie Chen is excited to prove herself as a future news reporter, and at the same time readers learn about her father's possible secret past. As the current scandal in city government is uncovered, another mystery makes itself known.
March 31, 2015
Maggie Chen is the daughter of an award-winning journalist. Just like her dad, she loves writing and words and getting to the bottom of things. But her dad was killed in a hit-and-run accident a couple months ago, and since then she and her mom have mostly just been surviving. Her summer internship at the newspaper is coming up, but without her dad around to calm her jitters, she's getting more and more worried about it.
One day a note comes in the mail from her dad's fraternity saying they have no record of a Steven Chen. Odd, but mostly annoying. Until Maggie starts to make some phone calls. Then, going through some of her dad's old papers, she finds reference to a "family project." She calls an old friend of her dad's who clears a few things up, but also adds more puzzling questions to Maggie's mystery. Who was her father, really? And why didn't he tell his wife and daughter about it?
Chapters from Maggie's POV are interspersed with chapters from someone else's life, an illegal immigrant from China during the Exclusion Era.
This was great! The "family history mystery" part dovetailed nicely with Maggie's current life as summer intern still struggling with the loss of her father. The historical parts were well done and added to the building of the mystery and the plot. Loved the ending. Now I get the double meaning of the title. Nicely played, Mrs. Ingold, nicely played.
I want to read more by this author!
One day a note comes in the mail from her dad's fraternity saying they have no record of a Steven Chen. Odd, but mostly annoying. Until Maggie starts to make some phone calls. Then, going through some of her dad's old papers, she finds reference to a "family project." She calls an old friend of her dad's who clears a few things up, but also adds more puzzling questions to Maggie's mystery. Who was her father, really? And why didn't he tell his wife and daughter about it?
Chapters from Maggie's POV are interspersed with chapters from someone else's life, an illegal immigrant from China during the Exclusion Era.
This was great! The "family history mystery" part dovetailed nicely with Maggie's current life as summer intern still struggling with the loss of her father. The historical parts were well done and added to the building of the mystery and the plot. Loved the ending. Now I get the double meaning of the title. Nicely played, Mrs. Ingold, nicely played.
I want to read more by this author!
February 26, 2016
The novel paper daughter by jeanette Ingold is the novel I choose for my diverse read. The main character Maggie is a reporter for the newspaper when her father dies and she began to get suspicious that her father was more than what he told her. Jeanette Ingold takes you through the tough times and the happy times of Maggie's adventure of finding out who her father really was. You should read this book if you like drama and plot twist.
Many people don't know why it's so important to read a diverse book but it is very important because it expands your horizon in the kinda books you like to read. If you read a diverse book it expands your literacy. Diverse books can change your outlook on the world making you more friendly with all people. If you don't read diverse books you won't change your perspective of all the different kinds of people in the world and your mind set will stay the same. Reading diverse books can change your life if you let it.
The novel paper daughter by Jeanette Ingold is a diverse book because the main character's father who is now dead, left the family wandering their fathers point of origin. A diverse book is a perfect example of a quote someone once said “all men are created equally, it is only men themselves who place themselves above equality.”
August 8, 2010
Maggie Chen is starting an internship at a Seattle paper, but the person who would have been proudest of her accomplishments--her dad, accomplished journalist Steven Chen--died in a hit and run car accident just months earlier.
As Maggie begins work at the paper, a big story might shed light on why her dad was where he was on the night he died...but maybe Maggie doesn't want to know. And that's not all she doesn't want to know. A flood in the basement forces Maggie to go through her dad's office, where more questions arise about the father she thought she new.
This book was interesting and well crafted. That said, at times, the questions about the hefty subject of the future of journalism bogged down the story at times and felt a little preachy (even for this reader who is an avid supporter of journalism).
This is a good junior high choice for readers who like a little intrigue and enjoy some historical components. I thought the nod to genealogy research was interesting and might even compel some teens to look into their family histories a bit.
I don't care for the cover of this book at all. Maggie is a 16-year-old character, but the girl on the cover of the book looks no older than 12...just something that irked me a little bit.
As Maggie begins work at the paper, a big story might shed light on why her dad was where he was on the night he died...but maybe Maggie doesn't want to know. And that's not all she doesn't want to know. A flood in the basement forces Maggie to go through her dad's office, where more questions arise about the father she thought she new.
This book was interesting and well crafted. That said, at times, the questions about the hefty subject of the future of journalism bogged down the story at times and felt a little preachy (even for this reader who is an avid supporter of journalism).
This is a good junior high choice for readers who like a little intrigue and enjoy some historical components. I thought the nod to genealogy research was interesting and might even compel some teens to look into their family histories a bit.
I don't care for the cover of this book at all. Maggie is a 16-year-old character, but the girl on the cover of the book looks no older than 12...just something that irked me a little bit.
July 8, 2010
This is a story of identity and origins--and as one finds, reading--they are often very different things.
It follows the Summer internship at a newspaper of a teenage girl, Maggie Chen, daughter of a recently slain journalist; and in alternate chapters follows the harrowing journey of a boy and girl from China, sneaking into the States as "Paper Children"--or children who are claimed by naturalised citizens of Chinese descent, without blood relation.
How are the two stories connected?
As Maggie delves into her father's notes and old drafts, she finds more and more discrepancies in the stories he told of his family. Why does his prep school on the East Coast have no record of him? Is there another reason, other than that he was lost, for his strange location in old Chinatown, when he was killed?
As more questions arise, Maggie has to decide whether she wants to know the truth, and decide how much it ultimately effects who she is.
It is a wonderful exploration of coming-of-age, of what place choice plays in who we are, but also in what irreplaceable space the stories we tell, and the stories that are told us, hold.
It follows the Summer internship at a newspaper of a teenage girl, Maggie Chen, daughter of a recently slain journalist; and in alternate chapters follows the harrowing journey of a boy and girl from China, sneaking into the States as "Paper Children"--or children who are claimed by naturalised citizens of Chinese descent, without blood relation.
How are the two stories connected?
As Maggie delves into her father's notes and old drafts, she finds more and more discrepancies in the stories he told of his family. Why does his prep school on the East Coast have no record of him? Is there another reason, other than that he was lost, for his strange location in old Chinatown, when he was killed?
As more questions arise, Maggie has to decide whether she wants to know the truth, and decide how much it ultimately effects who she is.
It is a wonderful exploration of coming-of-age, of what place choice plays in who we are, but also in what irreplaceable space the stories we tell, and the stories that are told us, hold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2011
When Maggie's father dies, her mother and she don't know what to do. Her father was a reporter who was killed in a hit and run accident just before Maggie is to start a summer internship with the local newspaper. As Maggie sorts through her father's old office, she stumbles upon a notebook with a puzzling line. "The trouble with small deceits is that the poet was right: they do become tangled webs. And you can't foresee who will be ensnared in them or who will be hurt if you tear back through to the truth." This, coupled with an odd note about searching for a family causes Maggie to question everything that she has believed about her life.
Jeanette Ingold weaves a touching and emotionally tearing story of a girl who has her life laid open before her as a tangled web of lies and who has to search through them to find the truth. It is not an exceptional plot and it does not have outstanding characters, but the writing style is amazing and there is a wonderful aftertaste that takes days to fade.
Jeanette Ingold weaves a touching and emotionally tearing story of a girl who has her life laid open before her as a tangled web of lies and who has to search through them to find the truth. It is not an exceptional plot and it does not have outstanding characters, but the writing style is amazing and there is a wonderful aftertaste that takes days to fade.
October 4, 2013
I personally did not find this book to all that great. The story follows the tales of two characters: a girl named Maggie Chen who wishes to become a journalist like her recently deceased father and a boy named Fai-Yi Li during the 1930's who ran to America from China to prevent his sister from getting arrested for murder. The book mainly follows Maggie as she searches to find clues to her father's past as well as find out who she really is. Fai-Yi's story is used to give us background information that will help the reader tie the two tales together when the time is right. What I do not like about the book is that the characters seem to be a bit cliche. The character's don't really stand out very much and I didn't feel connected with any character except in a few occasions. The ending, itself, as lack and felt quickly written. Overall the book wasn't bad but it lacked things to make it above the average.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2013
“Maggie Chen was born with ink in her blood.” Paper Daughter starts with the days after Maggie’s father had been killed in a hit-and-run accident. Maggie lost connection with her father ever since the accident and reminisces the days with the guidance and shouldering of her father. The only knot tying them together is the ink in their blood, in which father is a journalist and Maggie decides to take the same steps by interning at the local newspaper. She eventually discovers that her father is suspected of illegal activity, so in the name of love and justice, she investigates to clear her father’s name and discovers secrets and lies connected to her ethnicity and her family. This mixture of mystery, journalism, and heroine gives off an exotic flavor. By the way, the book cover is a masterpiece with Maggie’s realistic face and the Chinese cultural background.
June 28, 2016
Jeanette Ingold's culturally rich novel is wonderfully diverse. Switching between modern-day teen Maggie and a man named Fai-yi Li, Paper Daughter has some truly beautiful lines of prose. Ingold incorporates details well, especially in Fai-yi Li's sections. At one point, he narrated how he had an apple on a string around his neck, "where [he could] reach for a bite without moving from [his] work." It seems like a trivial thing, but I loved that small detail.
However, I felt distant from Maggie, the main narrator. She described everything with calm detachment, skipping over scenes that could've been fleshed out. She narrated, "And I learned several things about interviewing." Which is great, but not particularly descriptive or interesting. I just wish I could've connected more to Maggie.
However, I felt distant from Maggie, the main narrator. She described everything with calm detachment, skipping over scenes that could've been fleshed out. She narrated, "And I learned several things about interviewing." Which is great, but not particularly descriptive or interesting. I just wish I could've connected more to Maggie.
March 29, 2020
Paper Daughter
Jeanette Ingold
This book is about a young girl named, Maggie, gets a internship at a newspaper when she find out her father tragically died. As she is doing research on a report she realizes her fathers desk could be a lot more complex then she thought. I enjoyed this book overall, it switches between Maggie and a separate character. I was disappointed at the ending, there was a lot of hype rising to the end and it was not as big as they made it.
-McKenna
Jeanette Ingold
This book is about a young girl named, Maggie, gets a internship at a newspaper when she find out her father tragically died. As she is doing research on a report she realizes her fathers desk could be a lot more complex then she thought. I enjoyed this book overall, it switches between Maggie and a separate character. I was disappointed at the ending, there was a lot of hype rising to the end and it was not as big as they made it.
-McKenna
October 18, 2010
I really loved this book! I choose it because a) it was about journalism and I was really into that when I picked the book up, and the b) there was a girl staring off into the distance on the cover, do I want to read this book?? I think yes. So this book was not too terribly hard for me to get into, but I did not dive right into it, but once I got into it, I just flew through it. I loved the way that the book was set up, so that you knew a little bit more than the character did for most of the book, even though at first you didn't know what you were learning. I thought this was a very good story, with great characters, and I loved how it incorporated a mystery, and a newsroom, without going overboard on the whole mystery thing!
March 7, 2010
Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold is a story of family. It follows Maggie Chen, an average high school girl, living an average life until one day, while going through her father's last effects she uncovers a piece of information which sets her world spinning.Coupled with this information is the possibility that her father may have been involved with some shady business. Oh, and did I mention Maggie is interning at the local newspaper? She's totally in for a crazy summer.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
July 21, 2010
I enjoyed this quiet tale of a girl struggling to find out who her father was after his death. Though as an adult I found the revelations she discovered about her father were less shocking in the book then those likely to be made in real life. In reality, parents are people and people make mistakes and do dumb, stupid, or at least gross things. So he made up the story of his past family, that is shocking, but she doesn't find his secret collection of porn, or his embarrassing love of star trek, or where he stuffed his dirty socks. But the unfolding of the story in the past and the present, along with the ultimately unfinished nature of the revelations was satisfying.
November 5, 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! Ingold did a wonderful job of tying history to a contemporary issue. Maggie Chen is a smart kid in Seattle preparing for an internship at the local newspaper. The sudden hit-and-run death of her father has thrown her a curveball, but she carries on with life and the summer internship anyway. As the story unfolds, Maggie discovers a mystery about her father's past, a mystery that surprises both her and her mother. At the same time, Maggie stumbles onto a big newspaper story that will expose corruption in city politics.
I've always admired Jeanette Ingold; this novel has made me ENVY her, too!
I've always admired Jeanette Ingold; this novel has made me ENVY her, too!
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