The Vine Basket, Josanne La Valley
The Vine Basket, Josanne La Valley
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The Vine Basket

Author: Josanne La Valley

Narrator: Zeynep Bilik

Unabridged: 5 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/02/2013

Synopsis

Things aren’t looking good for fourteen-year-old Mehrigul. She yearns to be in school, but she’s needed on the family farm. The longer she’s out of school, the more likely it is that she’ll be sent off to a Chinese factory . . . perhaps never to return. Her only hope is an American woman who buys one of her decorative vine baskets for a staggering sum and says she will return in three weeks for more. Mehrigul must brave terrible storms, torn-up hands from working the fields, and her father’s scorn to get the baskets done. The stakes are high, and time is passing.

A powerful intergenerational story of a strong, creative young artist in a cruelly oppressive society.

About The Author

Josanne LaValley traveled across the Taklamakan Desert to the Hotan region of China, where she spent time among the Uyghur. The recipient of an MFA in writing children's books from Vermont College, Ms. LaValley lives in New York City. The Vine Basket is her first novel.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Carol on March 01, 2013

The Vine Basket by Josanne LaValley is definitely worthy of five stars. It is beautifully written and gives you an inside look into what it is like to be a Uyghur (pronounced as Wee ghur) girl. They are a Turkish ethnic group but live mostly in an area now considered as a part of China. My husband a......more

Goodreads review by Sharla on February 18, 2018

Read as a potential Battle of the Books 2019 long list candidate. Definitely nominate for long list. Reading level may be too high (lexile 740) - recommend to Middle Schools. Beautiful story about persistence and risk-taking. Set in the region of China inhabited by the Uyghur people, The Vine Basket......more

Goodreads review by Barb on August 15, 2013

When my daughter was young I spent 10 years as a rosemaling artist selling painted wood with decorative flowers to local specialty shops. Scandinavians in the community had a nostalgia for crafts representing their heritage and the rosemaling I did reflected different areas of Norway. People liked t......more

Goodreads review by Tasha on May 08, 2013

In East Turkestan, Mehrigul’s beloved brother has left the family and now her father is always angry and her mother has taken to bed. Mehrigul is forced to leave school and help out on the family farm. She also works the family market stall which is where her vine basket, created in the form of a co......more

Goodreads review by Harry on July 20, 2013

Combining cultural geography, and themes of resistance, female empowerment, and so much more, this text by Joanne la Valley is a treasure because it conquers the culture, geography, and customs completely unfamiliar to me, and brings them to become recognized. Educating and keeping you on the edge o......more

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