HOMEsick

NOVEL DESCRIPTION

            Part I

Title                                : HOMESICK

Author                            : Jean Fritz

Publisher                         : A PaperStar Book, Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers

Date of publication          : July 19, 1999

Number of page              : 163 pages

Size of novel                    : 19,5cm x 12,7cm

 

Part II

SYNOPSIS

            “God save the King”, to feel like a traitor, Jean starts to quite singing that song. As an American, she is not proud to chanting the song, just like her classmate Ian Forbes, British children. Everyone in the class were song, even the student comes from different countries, like Russia, Italia, or America. Jean Fritz has attempted and successed to perpetuate his own story, real life in China, in a city named Hankow at a war period time between Communists and Chinese. Her father was a committee, work as a director and also struggle for China againts the Communists. Although Jean loved having picnics on the Great Wall and visiting the beautiful mountain in the countryside, she longed to be in the United States where she really belonged. She has to wait until her father finishes his work while hoping whether they could go to America or not. Jean has letting the events fall as they would into shape of a story, lacing them together with fictional bits, adding a piece here and there when memory didn’t give her all she needed. She used the conversation freely and exposed the story excessively but keep the reader amazed.

            Eventhough she has sang with finger crossed, she still ask mother to write an excuse so she would not have to sing, but her mother would not do it. One day, Jean stopped singing. After everyone has finished singing that song, Mrs.William whom likes to pinch-faced and bossy then asked her whether something went wrong with her voice today. Jean answered it firmly the reason she did not sing because that was not her national anthem. Mrs.William emphasized and gave her advice that every student in the class have to sing it. That’s become the national anthem in the school. At recess, Jean usually plays game called “prisoner’s base” which was all running, shouting, shoving and catching. She hate that game then she decided not to play it this afternoon. When watching others student were playing, Ian Forbes tramped down hard on her foot. Jean tried to hiding what her foot felt while he insisted her to saying the words “God Save the King”. Ian gave Jean another twist at her arm, for Jean did not say those words. He ran off to the schoolyard because his name was being called firstly as usual. Jean slipped to the ground with her head between her knees.

            After arriving at home, Jean yelled at a big hall in the house. Her voice resounded in the hall but no one responded her at that time. Then, she realized that it was Tuesday. Her parent must be worked. Talking about the hall, a close friend Andrea, came up to her mind. Andrea is a year older than Jean. She likes to dance so the hall would not be so small for her just like what Jean thought and felt. She hoped Andrea was there so she would not be alone, yet it just a hope because Andrea live out of the country now. Jean heard a voice from her amah, Lin Nai-Nai. Lin Nai-Nai was different from other amahs. She even did not come from servant classes and it had been a secret from others servant who would have made her life miserable. She had run from her husband because he had taken a second wife and Lin Nai-Nai did not like it. She was embroidering upstair. Jean likes embroidering too, yet she could not do it well. She had made a bargain with Lin Nai-Nai. Lin Nai-Nai would teach Jean to embroider only if she teach her English. After have a small talk, Lin Nai-Nai asked Jean about how to greet someone. What a naughty kid! Jean lied to Lin Nai-Nai. She told her that to greet someone, we have to say “Sewing Machine”. So, Lin Nai-Nai tried to say those words also with the movement of how Chinese greet others as usual. Part of Jean wanted to laugh at the thought if Lin Nai-Nai met a strict or strange person. In the other side, part of her did not want to laugh at all.

            To continue her desire not to sing in the class again, Jean planned and arranged what she is going to do tomorrow. She would not go to school and walked toward the Yangtse River. Then, she past some stores, went up the block where the beggars sat. It seemed that no one had given them some money. Jean’s father also told that we could not give money or we would be mobbed by them. They would follow everywhere we go and never let us alone. After that, Jean look at a clock on the top of a tower. It was still nine thirty, so she decided to cross the street to the promenade part of a Bund. One thing that Jean like from Mrs.William was she made us learn poems by heart, so that Jean determined to recite poetry near to the Yangtse River. She looked at the River and pretended that all the busy people in the boats were her audience. While busy with the poetry, Jean did not realize there was a policeman that had already stood in front of her. He was fat and muscular more like character in the Arabian Nights book. He was wondering why Jean was not at school. Jean was very nervous. She told him that she was just erranded and sat down for a rest. Then, not long after, Jean walked quickly left the Bund and walk to the Chinese world. She usually go home after school around four, so she spent the rest of her time. Jean came up to a place where there was a frame of the beginning of a boat. She was amazed by it and climbed inside. After got a lunch with sandwich and some fruits there, a little boy around four years old came toward her. Jean asked him about the owner of the boat but he looked somewhat afraid. He called Jean “Foreign Devil”. Jean did not agree about that, shook her head and told him softly that she was an “American Friend”. The boy said “American Friend” softly too after Jean gave him an orange and the movement of his lips still uttering those words from far just after Jean moved her feet for left. Just exactly as what she planned, Jean arrived home at four. Lin Nai-Nai asked about her condition whether she was allright or not. She was worried about her. In the living room, Mrs.William had already sat and have a small talk with Jean’s mother. Mother tried to convince her that Jean would be at school again. After supper, Jean talked to mother about everything.

            Every house full of flicker from a Christmas tree. Many boxes of gift also laid out around and near it. In this Christmas, Jean did not want a box of gift. She asked for a new name to her mother as a gift. She put her arm around her mom’s neck because she did not want her feel bad about that. Jean thought that Marjorie was a good name for her and would make her feel more like an American. Of course, mother completely did not agree about that name. She even would not name a cat Marjorie. Then, Jean asked it to father, the one who she thought would accept that kind of gift. Unfortunately, dad did not give any responds. He knew what kind of gift that suitable for Jean.

            In the next day, Jean and her parent went to Kulling, to Mr. And Mrs. Jordan, another couple of Y.M.C.A and whose house they would be sharing. Mrs.Jordan guide them around the house and told everything about it. Arriving in Jean’s room, there was a cute tiger cat. They usually called her Ke-ren, but Jean liked to give her name with Kurry. Yesterday, Jean still sharing and being together with her mom. They had walked around a hill and in the banks of azaleas enjoying the fresh air behind the house. A bad news about her mother got a pain in the legs then came as a nightmare. Jean’s father did not allow her to see mother for a day or two. In the morning, father told Jean that she is going to have a baby sister. Everyone in the house tried to hide it and now that’s become a very meaningful and the best gift ever for her. She went around the house and told everybody that she has a baby sister. Jean like to give her name Marjorie Guttery. She did not want a sister who would be one hundred percent perfect. In her opinion, the name would effects her attitude. Surely, mother would never agree about that name. She would like to named her Miriam. It was become a very bad sorrow for the family that Miriam was died in her three weeks old. She burried in Hankow then.

            Communists army attack Wuchang (the city accross the river from Hankow). Communist souldiers were trying to make the city of Wuchang surrender by starving it to death. For that, Jean and her family have to back to Hankow and leave Kulling. Father arranged a trip carefully. It is not easy to move from a place to others in a war circumstance. They also have a quarelled with some coolies. After the thriller trip over and they arrived home, Jean straight to write a letter for her grandma in America. She told her about the scary situation in China and how much she missed to being in America. One day, Jean had a chit chat with Lin Nai-Nai. They talked about Yang Sze Fu’s new nails. Yang Sze Fu is a servant and he is a Communist. He had cut his nails. Communist does not believe in a long fingernail.  Knowing about that, Jean wonders if her father want to fired him. Lin Nai-Nai forbid that for Yang Sze Fu could be wild or cruel because of that. Jean also talked about Lin Nai-Nai’s family. Lin Nai-Nai told her that her family lived in Wuchang. Some of them had separated and did not care to others. What a tragic story. 

One night at supper Mom and Jean imagined and planned what they are going to do after arrived in America. Jean counted with her fingers that it would not be long. However, father also reminded them not to be very excited about that because delay is possible. He needed here. Did not want to have a complicated quarrel about that, mother announced that the class would start tomorrow.  Jean would study at home and her mom would be the teacher. They began the school on the thirtieth one of the siege. The first lesson was about the Latin. Next, on the fortieth day (October 10, 1926) the siege was over and mother declared a school holiday. When holiday, Jean had a lot of activities, such as visited her mother’s friends house, having a picnic or went shopping with Lin Nai-Nai and so on. One thing that could not be imagine for Jean was her father story. At that night, her father came home. He told everything about what had happened. A bomb went through the roof of Wuchang, Y.M.C.A building and so many dead rotting bodies in the streets. Just in one hour, sixty bodies being wheeled through the city gates in wheelbarrows and many sick people lack of food and clothes supply. 

            On the next Christmas in the next year, Jean and her family sent off their Christmas gifts to Washington. Jean got some Christmas presents and she opened the gift from her father first. It was a special blue gray plaid wool just like a blanket. Another gift was from her grandmother, a petticoat and a calender for next year. That calender made Jean could not wait her departure and trip to America. Then, Lin Nai-Nai would stay with Mr. And Mrs.Hu’s family. When packing, Mr. and Mrs. T.K Hu gave something to remember or we could say that with a remembrance to Jean’s family. It was a yellow ginger jar which is could mean as a wish for a long life and happiness. It was a wedding gift that placed at each side of Mr.and Mrs.Hu’s fireplace. When we look at ours, we will think of you and when you look at yours, you will think of us. Those Mr.Hu’s utterance has touched Jean’s mother heart. She put her arm around Mrs.Hu.

            Day after day, their plans are came true one by one. Jean and her family took a riverboat on April 15 and arriving in Shanghai on twentieth. They stayed with the Hulls then. What a good news for Jean, she had received a letter from Andrea. She told her that the rest of her family would going to America, too. She also had learned about the Charleston. Jean was wondering why an eight grade student like Andrea did such kind of flapper thing. Jean’s mother then told her that Andrea has always been old for her age. At 10 o’clock in the morning at that day, father came up with bad news. Nationalist Army had captured Nanking (the river from Hankow), afterward the soldies had gone wild. They broken into foreign homes, knocked foreigners, stolen and so on. They had to go earlier than what had planned. Jean was very scared and mad at the time. There was always something came up bothering her plans. When mother asked her to get Lin Nai-Nai, Jean took that opportunity to give Lin Nai-Nai a goodbye present. Her father had framed a picture of her and Kurry and Jean had also wrapped it with red tissue paper. Obviously, Lin Nai-Nai had prepared something for Jean too and to their surprised, the wrap was just the same. They promised to open it at the same time in 26^th of April. Jean put her arm around Lin Nai-Nai and moaned. Having no time, Jean packed her clothes and put the present at the bottom of the bag, for her mother did not allowed to bring books or others.

            Before went to the boat, Jean met with the litle boy that used to called her “Foreign Devil”. He was getting taller and looked unhappy by the Jean’s departure. After went inside the boat, in the steel plates, Jean had forgotten about that. She saw the plates had full of babies, children of all ages and women of all kinds. The rest of the day, Jean is busy with her cabin and playing games. After several days, Jean and her family finally arrived in Shanghai safely and on time. They stayed at Andrea’s house for couple of days. Andrea’s house had amazed Jean. It was such kind of luxury house. Jean has her private bathroom complete with the equipments and also dressing table in her bedroom. In Andrea’s house, she tried and learned about how to look good, watching movies, and so on. They also talked about many things. Andrea told Jean that she had fallen in love with her classmate. She also would going to America at the same time and the same ship with Jean.  After several days, mother began to worried about dad who had not back yet. She would not go to America without him. Then, one night around eleven, dad came home. Mom was very happy and they all together went to California in the next morning. In the deck, Jean was busy with herself. Just exact at the time she had promised to open the present from Lin Nai-Nai, she found there was a folded square of cloth. That was a piece of Lin Nai-Nai embroidery and she had made it in her own design. A picture of mountain, a thin black line climbing up to a scallop of clouds and in the center was a pool with the blue bells and tiger lilies. Jean could not stand of it. She burried her head in pillow with a huge sobs.

            In the first morning at the journey from Shanghai to San Fransisco, Jean enjoyed the ocean and having a good time with Andrea. They were doing the same things everyday. In the afternoon, they have a tea together and talk about movies at night. Unconsciously, day by day had passed. Jean felt dizzy and like unreal that she could step her feet to San Fransisco. She had to part with Andrea and went to Los Angeles by new car. Jean’s father did not choose to use the highways, so they would road to such kind of short cut. Mother and Jean were just quite at that time. Jean had never seen cow in China, so she poked her mother when she saw that one. In the last day, Dad wrote a note. He wanted to make a record of his journey. Ozark Mountain, Mohane Desert and Shirls Avenue had been passed carefully. Home is become the last stop.

            Everyone in the house welcome Jean and her parent amicably. The family came to the house, but it seems that there are two faces whose not familiar by Jean. Just like to strangers and it was true. They are the kids from the neighbors, not a relative. A question they had asked anger Jean. They asked whether Jean like to eat rats in China. Herself want to explode at that time, yet she can not do it. Then, her father give advise that some people in Washington do not know any better. China seems so far away so that they like to imagine strange things. Next, a thing that Jean always waited for is being at school in America. She learns the pledge of Allegiance before go to school. At the school, Jean mocked by her friend. He called her with Chink and Chinaman. After finished some quarrel and soft-argue with the teacher, Jean still kept a little peeve to the teacher. What a lucky, there is a boy named Donald Burch who always glance or respond Jean positively. They walked together on the way home. Jean can not say no to him whom offering to walk together again in the next day. We can not conclude that it is perfectly romantic. However, finally Jean felt in love with him.