Outrun the Moon by Stacy Lee - ADVISABLE

Lee, Stacy Outrun the Moon, 391 pgs. Penguin Random House, 2016. $17.99. Language: PG (5 swears, 0 “f”) Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG.  

15 year old Mercy Wong graduated 8th grade at the top of her class, but it’s 1906 and she is Chinese, so her public education stops there.  Determined to make a name for herself anyway, she negotiates a trial admission into the prestigious St. Clare’s Girls’ School in San Francisco, but the rich privileged girls can’t see past her race and things are only going to get worse if they discover that her father owns a laundry in Chinatown and her mother is a fortune teller.  But when the great earthquake of 1906 strikes, Mercy discovers something she didn’t see before - in herself and her friends.  

A beautiful slice of history, this exciting look at turn of the century morals, education and racial relations is also a bit romantic and nostalgic.  Reminiscent of modern disaster stories (Katrina) it is hopeful and sad. It's well written and exciting enough to keep the reader engaged to the end.  

MS, HS - ADVISABLE  Lisa Librarian