A review by sunflowerjess
Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

This story is so impactful, both inspiring and heartbreaking to learn what he went through. At 9 years old, in 1919, Tyrus journeyed from China to America with his father, both posing as a merchant's son and merchant to get around the Chinese Exclusion Law. Tyrus studied the papers about the real merchant's son in order to assume his identity. Upon arriving at Angel Island, Tyrus was separated from his father, imprisoned in a dirty house with other immigrant children for weeks, and finally interrogated before he was allowed to see his father again and stay in America. I wish I could say that Americans no longer separate children from their parents and imprison them, but...

That was just the beginning of Tyrus Wong's journey. I highly recommend this book to learn more about this incredible man, who died in 2016 at the age of 106.