Her Own Song

by Ellen Howard

When her adoptive father is hospitalized after an accident, Mellie is befriended by Geem-Wah, owner of a Chinese laundry, who holds the key to the events surrounding Mellie's birth eleven years ago. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689314442
• ISBN13: 9780689314445
• Release Date: July 1988
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A girl who has a brave soul

This book takes place in 1905 in Seattle. Mellie is eleven years old and is struggling with people at school when they tease her about being adopted. One day when she hears her dad has been hurt bad at work she decides to go to CinaTown to figure out who her real parents are. I likes this book a lot because it shows you not to make fun of people just because they are a different color or they are adopted. That is why I give this book four stars

Finding the Past

Mellie was your average girl. At school, she just wanted to fit in. Her peers made fun of her because she was adopted. She lived with her aunt and father. They never talked about Mellie's past, and she had many questions. There was this Chinese laundry man that passed her school and house daily. At school, the other kids laughed and shouted names at him because he was Chinese. Mellie joined in.One day, her aunt decided to go on a trip to Florida. Mellie was in charge of all the chores. When her father was at work, he got badly hurt, and was sent to the hospital. Mellie didn't know which one. That's when she got to the hospitals until she found him. When she did, she found out that her dad was unconscious. She spent the night with the Chinese man.When she got to China Town, everything looked familiar to her. She knew this place had something to do with her past. Now, all she had to do is find out what that was.......I really liked the book because it had a great message. It was don't judge people by how they look, act, or believe. It's who they are on the inside. The book was also fun to read, and left you wanting more.A book that is related to this story is Phoenix Rising. The main character is, like Mellie, an orphan. At the beginning, she is judgmental to nuclear plant victims. Then, when she gets to know some, she finds they are very nice people.