I went to the library yesterday and checked out some books. Most of them are centered around the lives of Chinese living in America and Canada. Reading some of these stories, in a way comforts me, but at the same time, makes me realize just how much I've lost in the ways of my heritage. I have a English-Chinese dictionary as well as a English-Cantonese dictionary by my side to translate some of the italicized words used in these books. Some words I know, some I don't.
The books are:
Troublemaker by Christine Chiu
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Many-Mouthed Birds: Contemporary Writing by Chinese-Canadians
Disappearing Moon Cafe by Sky Lee
Below the Line by Sarah Chin
The Flower Drum Song by C.Y. Lee
At Hobee's this morning, one of the specials was "Hobee's Egg Foo Yung". Egg Foo Yung is a real chinese dish, but I don't eat it with the thick goopy sauce poured on top of it. (I think the gravy is one of the changes made for westerners). I just found it amusing that an American restaurant would try to make a Chinese dish, but this got me to thinking... when I cook Chinese dishes, will it be considered "Americanized"?
I finished one book this morning called "follow your heart", about an elderly italian woman writing some farewell letters to her estranged granddaughter. I only chanced upon it because it happened to be next to Amy Tan's books. I had to read it, and if you know me, you'll know that 'follow your heart' is a favorite expression of mine.
Ok, back to reading. =)
I read Disappearing Moon Cafe when I was in Gr.8 or 9, but I don't really remember the premise of the story. I also read The Hundred Secret Senses during my first or second year of university and a short story or two from Many-Mouthed Birds: Contemporary Writing by Chinese-Canadians for one of my Asia-Canada classes when I was still going to SFU.
Other books by Chinese-Chinese authors that may be of interest to you and that I have read as a child and more recently are Breakaway, The Curses of Third Uncle and Teach Me to Fly, Skyfighter! and Other Stories by Paul Yee, The Jade Peony and Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood by Wayson Choy, and The Concubine's Children by Denise Chong. These all take place in Vancouver's Chinatown through time periods ranging from the early 1900s and the 1980s and they are about the lives of the previous generations of Chinese-Canadians (mostly second generation).
Another book that I have enjoyed as a child was Child of the Owl by the Chinese-American author, Laurence Yep. It talks about this third-generation 12 year old Chinese-American girl who is sent to live with her maternal grandmother (who used to work as a maid for a Caucasian household) in SF's Chinatown in the early 1960s and how through living with her, she regains her lost heritage and learns about the mother she never knew.
Anyway, Paul Yee and Laurence Yep's books are mainly geared towards a young adult audience, but they are good reads. =)
I might actually get around to reading some of the novels in your list when I have time. They sound very interesting.
I think you know this already, but Flower Drum Song had been made into a movie in the 1960s. I already watched the film a couple of times on TV. It's actually quite entertaining.