China Homecoming
“Narrator Susan Boyce assumes the voice of the author in this concise, enlightening memoir about the author’s return to her childhood home in China…Her clear reading and modulated tones capture the author’s diverse emotions—from the hardship of leaving her birth country at age thirteen and her difficulties in feeling American to her longing, disappointment, and joy at her return to her native country. Boyce’s dynamic reading also conveys the significance of many of China’s historical events and cultural practices.”
AudioFile
China Homecoming is the sequel to Jean Fritz's Newbery Honor book Homesick: My Own Story. As a grown woman, Jean returned to China where she was born and lived until she was thirteen.
Speaking Chinese, Jean felt welcome when she revisited China. Memories of her childhood washed over her as she visited her old home and the British School she had attended. Both had changed just as history had changed her hometown of Wuhan, but listeners will be moved at what it meant to Jean when she was declared an honorary citizen.
“Narrator Susan Boyce assumes the voice of the author in this concise, enlightening memoir about the author’s return to her childhood home in China…Her clear reading and modulated tones capture the author’s diverse emotions—from the hardship of leaving her birth country at age thirteen and her difficulties in feeling American to her longing, disappointment, and joy at her return to her native country. Boyce’s dynamic reading also conveys the significance of many of China’s historical events and cultural practices.”
AudioFile
“Jean Fritz’s respect and deep affection for China, its people, and culture is evident throughout this fascinating, highly readable journey…A book to be read and reread.”
School Library Journal (starred review)
“An intriguing fusion of autobiography, history, and travelogue…A vivid portrait of a developing nation, and a reminder that history is people who live through events and then go on.”
Booklist
Susan Boyce is the award-winning narrator of over 140 audiobooks. She performs in variety theater, is one half of the song-and-dance team of Jones & Boyce, and holds a degree in theater and biology. She can be heard in phone trees, in computer games, and as the voice of the pink “Care Bear.” She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, and summers in Greenville, Maine.