Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 03/01/2020 Gr 5–8—Fourteen-year-old Hanna and her father move to the frontier town of LaForge, where Hanna hopes they can finally put down permanent roots. Since her mother's death three years earlier, Hanna and her father have traveled from town to town, trying to find a place they will be accepted. Will LaForge be the place where Hanna can finally go to school and make friends? Or will they have to leave just like every other place because the townspeople are afraid of a girl who is half Chinese? At moments stingingly painful and ultimately triumphant, this story will cause readers to look at frontier life with a new set of eyes. Racism, immigration, Native American reservations, invisible histories, and parental loss are just a few of the heavy topics Park plumbs with grace while making them accessible for young readers. Hanna is a relatable heroine struggling to overcome ignorance and racism both firmly and kindly, all while seeking what she most desperately wants—acceptance for who she is. VERDICT A sometimes uncomfortable yet triumphant story from the world of "Little House on the Prairie" told through a marginalized perspective; this is a must-read for middle grades and beyond.—Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/01/2020 *Starred Review* In her latest middle-grade historical-fiction masterpiece, Park conjures the resourceful and industrious spirit of America’s westward expansion without ignoring the ugly veneer of racism that pushed Native Americans off their land and overlooked the contributions of Asian immigrants in the “settling” of the West. Hanna, a half-Chinese girl born in California, and her white father move to the Dakota Territory following the death of her mother. Upon settling in LaForge, the family encounters racism both overt (the town’s parents pull their children from the only school so they won’t have to learn with Hanna) and insidious (her father is afraid to let her become their store’s seamstress, for fear that people would think he was keeping her as his Chinese slave). After she is assaulted while running errands, gossiping townspeople withdraw their support for her father's fledgling business, and the success of the enterprise is thrown into doubt. Fortunately, Hanna’s ingenuity and courage lead her to a solution that saves the store’s opening and shows that there are townspeople she can count on. A well-rounded and wonderfully readable effort, Park’s book includes well-researched Native American customs and history that bring the wide-ranging effects of Manifest Destiny politics into sharp focus without sounding like a history textbook. An incredible and much-needed addition to the historical-fiction canon. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.