Category: Children Publisher: Truelight
ISBN-10: 0969998422
Type: Fiction
Pages: 86
Copyright: Jan 10 1997
Mei Ling Discovers Jack Miner is a novel for 10-12 year olds about a Chinese immigrant Mei Ling and her discovery of Jack Miner.He established the first wildlife sanctuaryin 1904 and tracked the path of the Canada goose from 1915. Mei Ling shares doing a school project with John, her Canadian schoolfriend.Together, they visit the sanctuary. There is a small mystery about Mei Ling's earlier life in Hong Kong too.
John Rogers meets Mei Ling Lee, a new immigrant to Windsor,Ontario at school. They share a project about the Canada goose and through it, Mei Ling visits Jack Miner's Bird Sanctuary and meets his son Jasper Miner in 1995.During the story, the reader learns more about Mei Ling and the tragedy that made her parents chose a new life in Canada. By the end of the novel, Mei Ling has completed a good project with John, visited the county and become happier in her new home. Below is a short passage about the time John first held a Canada goose.
How old is the goose, Mr, Miner? John asked. I think we've had this one around for about a number of years.Maybe she's about 15 years old now. See that gander over there.He's her husband you might say. Geese are very loyal; they mate for life. Now take her close under her wings and she'll soon stay still. The goose fluttered a little as I took her but was soon quite still. 'She feels so hot under her wings. Look Mom, she's almost resting her head on my arm.Wow, I can even feel her heart beat.'
Excerpt
All the time I had been listening to this conversation, I had been doling out bits of barley to the ducks on the pond. It as fun watching them come close to try to get it and tipping almost upside down up to retrieve bits in the pond. Mei Ling threw a little to the geese but got scared when they came close. Mr. Miner must have seen this as he came up.
"Don't be frightened. These geese are used to people. They live here year round. Watch, I'll pick one up and let you feel her."
He quickly caught a big goose in his large hand;then tucked it under his arm. Soon she was absolutely still. "Come and feel her now,"he said to us."She won't hurt you."
When Mei Ling touched her, her father took a picture. She smiled as she gently touched the silky feathers and said,"Thank you. She is warm and soft to feel."
Professional Reviews
Discovering Jack Miner; second edition 2000
This is a competent book with plenty of information about the Canada goose as it follows he story of a Chinese immigrant Mei Ling and her friend John while they are doing a school project. The small mystery about Mei Ling adds interest. Although the author does bring in a plug for her Christian faith, the book has much to recommend it.
School Library review.
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Reviews for "Mei Ling Discovers Jack Miner"
Reviewed by Wayne Walker
5/31/2012
Do you know who Jack Miner was? John Rogers is a young lad who lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his father Tom, mother Judy, and older sister Kate. At school, he meets a new student, Mei Ling Lee, whose family has recently emigrated from Hong Kong, China, and lives just down the street from the Rogerses’ house. The two are assigned to work together on a class project about any Canadian animal, and they choose to do theirs on the Canada goose. John proposes that the two families visit the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in Kingsville, about fifty kilometers away, to gather information for their project. However, Mei Ling always seems to be very sad. Does she have some kind of secret about her earlier life in Hong Kong?
Set around 1995, much of this book is fictional, but Jack Miner was a real person, one of the first Canadians to see the need for protecting the migrating ducks and geese. Over ninety years ago, in 1904, Miner set up his own bird sanctuary in southern Ontario. On her visit there, Mei Ling meets his son Jasper Miner, who lived from 1910 to 1997. Not only are there many details about the history of the Miner family and the sanctuary, but there is also plenty of information about the Canada goose. In addition to the drawings by Yolanda Lamoure, a number of old photographs are also used. Furthermore, it is a story of friendship and caring. As the plot unfolds, readers learn more about Mei Ling and the tragedy that made her parents chose a new life in Canada. By the end of the book, Mei Ling completes a good project with John and is becoming happier in her new home.
Rather than being dysfunctional as is found in so much modern children’s literature, the families are portrayed in a godly way. When John comes home from school and has chores but wants to put them off to shoot some baskets, his mother says, “Jobs first, play after.” One professional reviewer sneered, “Although the author does bring in a plug for her Christian faith,” but the fact is that kids need to read about people whose faith in God has guided their lives to do good things. “…It was those tragedies that made Jack Miner turn to his Bible more. Because he firmly believed God wanted people to care for the birds, he befriended them.” Some environmentalists want to “save the planet” because they consider “Mother Earth” almost as a goddess to be worshipped. Proper conservationists seek to protect nature because we are to be good stewards of the blessings which God has given us. Mei Ling Discovers Jack Miner has much to recommend it.
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