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“Life is not as rich not real unless you partake life with you fellow man”

I don‘t know if I would read this book or not to a group of students. It was very long and I even zoned out during some parts.

This book did a very good job telling a personal story and putting in a bigger picture. While Ed was growing up, he lived in a big house in the nice part of Shanghai. He spoke of all the memories he had in the big house through the entire second world war. The afterword describes that Eddy didn‘t realize how big and dramatic the second world war was until he grew up, even though he lived through all of it.

“I knew nothing could happen to us within those walls, in the house Baba built.”

This book was super interesting because I never learned about this in school. I feel there aren‘t many books that touch on this topic. It would be a great resource for students to learn about different cultures.

The House Baba Built by Ed Young is a piece of historical fiction. It was published in 2011. This story is about when China was involved in a war. Ed tells us about how inside their home they had to make it as fun as they could because it was too unsafe to go outside. As the war grew closer to their home they had many friends and family living with them to keep them safe. It tells about how even though times were hard he still had a fun childhood.

When we weren't swimming, we played with make-believe toys. I turned a rocking chair into a horse. It squeaked and thumped along the floors, leaving tracks in the house Baba built.

I thought these illustrations were very powerful and very detailed. They illustrated the memoir very well.

This book is about a childhood home in Shanghai, that was full of imagination like rocking chairs becoming horses and the roof becoming a roller rink. Outside the home, China was at war. The house ended up holding Ed and his 4 siblings as well as friends, relatives, and even strangers. As the war grew closer, planes flying overhead and friends joining the Chinese air force, his childhood remained full of joy and imagination.