ALA Booklist (Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

Dual voices in alternating chapters narrate the conflict between Chinese and Western coal miners in the Wyoming Territory in 1885. Joseph Young, American by birth but Chinese in heritage, lives with his ostracized father in a mining camp; Michael Purdy, who lives in the nearby town with his unmarried mother, is an outsider because he is a bastard. The boys accidentally meet in a cave filled with fossils and become friends. When the railroad sets out to replace the Western miners with Chinese workers, hatred and resentment explodes in a massacre of the Chinese. The overlong novel has an obvious message, but the short chapters read quickly, and readers will become involved through the first-person voices that capture each boy's feelings of being an outsider and a traitor. An afterword documents the history and a concluding chapter outlines the Golden Mountain Chronicles, noting that the ninth and final is yet to come. This story of prejudice can stand alone, but it will certainly lead readers back to other titles in the series, which reflect Chinese experiences in China and America from 1849-1995.

Horn Book (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

The lives of two boys, old beyond their twelve years, intertwine in this saga of ugly events in the Wyoming Territory. This novel focuses on the 1885 race riot in which white coal miners massacred the Chinese workers favored by the mine owner. The well-drawn history is fascinating; a subplot is intriguing; and the plight of the boys as outsiders will appeal to readers. A historical note and a series overview are appended. Bib.

Kirkus Reviews

Yep lays down another course of his now monumental, seven-generation family chronicle begun in Dragonwings (1975) with this tale of two Wyoming Territory outsiders—one an illegitimate white child, the other a US-born son of a Chinese coal miner—who witness the Rock Springs massacre, one of the most savage race riots in our history. In alternating chapters (and typefaces), Joseph Young, or "Precious Light" as his father insists on calling him, and Michael Purdy, the washerwoman's son, track rising tensions between the town's Chinese and non-Chinese residents, as they themselves forge a secret, uncertain alliance in a fossil-filled cave they dub Star Rock. As hostile confrontations and public rallies gradually escalate into an all-out, armed assault on the Chinese camp, Yep methodically exposes the ugliness of racial hatred, with characters on both sides justifying irrational stances fueled by fear, misdirected anger, malicious intentions, and misunderstanding. Star Rock isn't the only sign that better relations are possible, however, for to his astonishment, Michael finds his previously intolerant mother sheltering Joseph and his father from the general slaughter until they can flee—and the tale ends with both families about to re-connect in San Francisco. "You have the right dream," a wiser Joseph tells his father Otter (protagonist of Dragon's Gate [1993], and here a reviled, steadfastly pacifistic adult). "There just have to be more of us making that dream happen." Yep caps his strong, chilling story with a historical afterword, then maps out his saga's past and future episodes. Essential reading for all students of America's complex history and culture. (Fiction. 11-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Laurence Yep's Golden Mountain Chronicles-which traces the experiences of the Youngs, a Chinese family, over several generations in America (the publisher includes in the series Dragonwings, Dragon's Gate and Child of the Owl, among others)-continues with The Traitor, set in 1885 in Wyoming Territory. The narrative alternates between Joseph Young (""""I was thirteen in Chinese years. Twelve in Western"""") and his American counterpart, Michael Purdy, both of whom work in the mines.

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-This novel, based on a true event, tells the story of two young teens who live in Rock Springs, WY, in 1885 when animosity between American and Chinese miners reaches its peak. Born in the U.S. of Chinese parents, Joseph Young considers himself an American, but both communities see him as only Chinese. Michael Purdy is an "outsider" because of his illegitimate birth. The boys meet when Michael escapes hounding by bullies and hides in a cave outside of town where Joseph is fossil hunting. In chapters that alternate between the two well-developed characters, the book describes their growing friendship despite the escalating trouble between the Chinese and the "Westerners" who blame the newcomers for their economic hardships and march on Chinatown in a rampage. Though the narrative leading up to the massacre and its aftermath is perhaps a bit too long, Yep does a good job portraying the rampant prejudice, and he does not sugarcoat the horrifying violence, told from Michael's point of view. In stark contrast to the inhumanity he sees in the streets, his mother acts humanely in spite of her negative view of the Chinese. This series entry adds another chapter to the tale of the Young family, who came to America from Kwangtung, China, and sheds needed light on a shameful, but forgotten, event in American history.-Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.