The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

by Lisa See | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1501154826 Global Overview for this book
Registered by ComradeCamper of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin USA on 9/2/2017
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5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by ComradeCamper from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin USA on Saturday, September 2, 2017
The title and the book's cover art intrigued me. Then I realized this novel was written by the same author as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, so I got it for a BookCrossing wild release.
This book offers glimpses into the world of 19th century Chinese tea farmers. Li-yan leaves traditional rituals and patterns of rural life for education and independence in a city. But every choice has consequences, and Li-yan pays a price for the decisions she has made.

Journal Entry 2 by ComradeCamper at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (9/12/2017 UTC) at Cape Coral, Florida USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to booklady331 with best wishes. It's a book that was near the top of her wishlist, and I figure anyone in the state of Florida could use a little cheering up right now.

Journal Entry 3 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, September 18, 2017
Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this wish list book. I love Lisa See. She is one of my favorite authors. I have read almost all her books. You did cheer me up.

Love the post cards and a glimpse into Wisconsin.

Journal Entry 4 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, January 29, 2018
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane follows the life of Li-yan, a member of the Akha hill tribe whose way of life is still tied to the land. Growing up picking tea leaves each season with her family and living without electricity or running water in a hut made on bamboo stilts, Li-yan’s life is different from the modern world of the late 1980’s. Set to follow in her mother’s path as a midwife, Li-yan struggles to accept her path and works hard in school hoping to be the first in her village to qualify for upper level schooling that would open up other possibilities. Fate intervenes and her life changes. She is successful after some trials. Years later, across the globe, a young Chinese girl adopted by Americans wonders at her roots and the special tea cake that was wrapped in her blankets when she was left at the orphanage. Who was her mother and what is the significance of this tea cake?
I struggled to get into this book, which is not what usually happens when I read Lisa See. I found the book interesting in parts, but not compelling. I can see the author writing a sequel as the story was left with the reader wanting a couple more chapters to bring conclusion to the story.

Reserved for ABC VBB

Journal Entry 5 by wingbooklady331wing at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Thursday, November 7, 2019

Released 4 yrs ago (11/8/2019 UTC) at Cape Coral, Florida USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! KTM RABCK to Booksandmusic for the ABC VBB and The "THE" Release challenge

Journal Entry 6 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Friday, November 15, 2019
Thank you very much!

Journal Entry 7 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Thursday, October 22, 2020
It was interesting historically and culturally. This story is about a girl who is a member of the Akha people, an ethnic minority group in the mountains of China. Her mother is the village midwife and healer and wants her daughter to carry on this tradition. But Li-Yan, the daughter, becomes pregnant and the boy is away trying to make money while Li-Yan remains alone. Her mother helps her deliver in secret and Li-Yan leaves her secret baby to be found and delivered to an orphanage. This changes the course of Li-Yan's life. The baby, Yan-Yeh, is given to an American couple and becomes Haley. Li-Yan's village are tea growers and harvesters. When Li-Yan leaves her baby she leaves her with an old and precious cake of tea. This helps Haley eventually find her way back to the area from which she came and to finding both her past and her future.
Something about this book reminded me of Jodi Picoult books, maybe the coming of age theme, maybe the teen angst.
Also, reading this book during Covid pandemic, this line stood out boldly, "Every pandemic in the history of the world has come from China." That line went off like a mini bomb in my head. Is that even true? Just a brief google seems to support the statement.

Journal Entry 8 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Friday, January 22, 2021
I intend to put this book in the ABC Book Box

Journal Entry 9 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Wednesday, April 7, 2021
I am removing this book from the ABC VBB as unselected

Journal Entry 10 by BooksandMusic at Seattle, Washington USA on Tuesday, September 14, 2021
I am putting this book into the Around the World book box.

Journal Entry 11 by Azuki at Miami, Florida USA on Saturday, October 30, 2021
Yay! I have been wishing for this book as soon as it came out! I love everything by Lisa See, and a story about a minority tribe of tea collectors in China perks my interest even more. So happy to find it here. Thanks for sharing.

Journal Entry 12 by Azuki at Miami, Florida USA on Monday, July 25, 2022
I am excited to read this book, as it is centered around tea culture: about the Akha tribe who picks tea high up in the mountains, and the pu-er tea specifically. I am not a fan of pu-er, finding the taste too strong and bitter, but my husband is a fan, so I took out his tea cake for a photo op (the tea is from Meng Hai, where the story is located, though crafted by the Dai rather than Akha people).

Lisa See is quite ambitious here; besides the mother daughter relationship, she expands the scope to look into the graceful-but-angry emotional complex of the adoptees, the medicinal benefits of tea, climate change, and more. The therapy transcript, the email exchanges, the detailed description of Akha culture, are some of the things that feel like the author is trying to fit as much of her research as possible into her book. In some way it's good, it opens up a lot of book group discussions and encourages people to dig deeper into the issues brought up in the book. On the other hand, the narration gets dragged down.

If you are interested in learning more about tea and Akha people, Lisa See's website has quite a bit of info:
https://www.lisasee.com/insideteagirl/

And yes indeed, the line "Every pandemic in the history of the world has come from China" really stands out...

I was planning to use this book for the Asian bookbox, but decided to use it instead of the Indigenous People book box, so it will have some variety beyond Native American prespective.

Journal Entry 13 by wingNancyNovawing at Lansdale, Pennsylvania USA on Saturday, August 27, 2022
from Indigenous People book box

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