Reviews for The House of Sixty Fathers

The average rating for The House of Sixty Fathers based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-09-21 00:00:00 Yashvir Singh I finished this book with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Why? Because, while this book is tough and raw to read for realistically portraying its subject, it's beautifully written and acutely heartwarming. The New York Times reviewed the book as, "Not only a tense adventure story but also a moving picture of one small boy's tenacious courage." I give that assessment a hearty amen! The action of this book is quite gripping, but it was the pull to root for Tien Pao, this little Chinese boy, and his little piglet against all odds that was the heartthrob of the story. Tien Pao and his family have just escaped from their Japanese-attacked village that the Japanese and have escaped in their tampan, a boat, upriver to the city of Hengyang, now the 2nd largest city in China. When the tampan is accidentally unmoored and washed downriver with Tien Pao and the piglet he names Glory-of-the-Republic, his endurance is tested. On the long journey back to Hengyang, he risks his own life to save an injured American airman lieutenant, helping the Chinese fight the Japanese, as well as encountering the Chinese resistance, who act as guerrillas by night and farmers by day. When he finally arrives in the city it is only as the Japanese do, and Tien Pao bravely tries to find his family in the chaos. And that is how his sixty fathers find him, on a rock overlooking the road out of Hengyang asleep and curled up with his piglet. I loved seeing the interaction between the boy and the American airmen, who "adopted" Tien Pao out of gratefulness for how he saved their lieutenant's life! Finding out that the book is based off a true story only endeared this book and those scenes to me more. This is my third Meindert Dejong book and certainly not my last. I've found him to be an author capable of masterfully writing to capture my heart and move me to tears, even in his simplest novels. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-18 00:00:00 Lisa Sica Here's one I've picked up for my little guy's library. We can't resist a book with a shiny medal on the cover. I like to read kid books between my "grownup" books because they are easier to focus on during my "book hangovers". You know, when a particular book is so thought provoking that your mind is foggy with it's images and characters that it's rather hard to begin another book. Okay, well now that I've read it I will declare it to be one of my new all time favorites. I can't believe I haven't even heard of this little gem. I cried like a baby at the end. Just blubbered. What a treat. I highly recommend this to anyone. I rarely give five stars and this one deserves it. Don't worry about the slow start, the momentum picks up a quarter of the way through and rushes like a river toward the end.