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Saints
Reviewed with Boxers.) A brilliant pair of graphic novels explores events surrounding the Boxer Rebellion in early 20th-century China through two characters who age from childhood to young adulthood on different sides of the conflict. Saints follows Four-Girl. Taking the saint’s name Vibiana when she converts to Christianity, she has a powerful connection to Joan of Arc. Vibiana joins a priest named Father Bey inside a walled Christian mission community, helping care for orphans as rumors of a group called the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist spread. The Boxers, as they are also known, attack and kill Christian missionaries and converts, whom they perceive as devils. Boxers follows Bao, a boy eager to learn martial arts. A mysterious teacher secretly instructs Bao, and eventually sends him to be trained in the ritual by which he can embody a god when he fights. The death of his teacher at the hand of British soldiers inspires Bao and others to form the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist, to destroy the soldiers, missionaries, and Chinese Christians who are undermining the economy and Chinese religious and cultural traditions. Bao and his followers attack Vibiana’s mission before continuing to Peking, where the final, tragic standoff between the Boxers and the British takes place. This dazzling pairing can be read in either order, but reading them both is essentia, showing the same events from vastly differing perspectives and offering equally respectful depictions of religion and spirituality; the Boxers embodying their gods as they go into battle is no different than Vibiana’s visions of and conversations with Joan of Arc. The conflicting motivations, beliefs, and desires of Bao and Vibiana are revealed but never judged. Yang’s clean-lined visual style and sense of humor both lighten this remarkable look at history, religion, and culture. ©2013 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 14 and older
Age Range:
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Graphic Novel
Subjects:
20th Century
Chinese and Chinese Americans
Christian People
Colonialism
Faith, Spirituality and Religion
Historical Fiction
Perspective/Point of View
Violence
World History
Diversity subject:
Asian
Christian
Publishers:
First Second, Roaring Brook
Publish Year: 2013
Pages: 170
ISBN: 9781596436893
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 741.5 Yang