Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier

I am an American who has taught in a Chinese University in Xi'an for almost 4 years. I have been to the Terracotta army museum. I will be returning to the States to teach English/Language Arts and Ancient History in a public school 6th grade classroom. I plan to use this book!!!

This was a book that I purchased for our grandchildren after we returned from a trip to China. It was an entertaining way to tell them about the Terracotta Soldiers that we saw there, accompanying photos and souvenirs that we also brought home. It couples fantasy, so that it’s not just a dry historical re-telling.

Daughter had to read this for school and ended up loving it!

Great to add a "male" to our Chinese Revolution collection!

Ying Chang Compestine made herself known to the children’s and young adult literature community through her 2007 novel REVOLUTION IS NOT A DINNER PARTY. This work of historical-fiction was based upon Compestine’s childhood in Communist China. She returns to that time period in SECRETS OF THE TERRA-COTTA SOLDIER, her newest work of historical-fiction for intermediate grade readers. However, Compestine does not return alone --- she brings her son, Vinson Compestine, along as a “travel” companion and co-author.The main character of SECRETS OF THE TERRA-COTTA SOLIDER, 13-year-old Ming, lives with his father in a remote village in Maoist China. Ming and his father struggle to survive on his father’s meager government salary. Ming’s father, Ba Ba, is an archeologist and as he is considered an intellectual, he and his family were sent to this remote village as punishment. His father’s status has resulted in a forced isolation for Ming at school and in the village. His classmates are reprimanded for speaking to him, and Ming is friendless and lonely. Additionally, Ming’s father is on the brink of being sent to a labor camp unless he can prove that the lost tomb of Emperor Qin is located nearby.While Ba Ba is away pleading for his job, three local farmers arrive at Ming’s house with pieces of a terra-cotta soldier. Ming believes this is exactly what is needed to prove that the location of Emperor Qin’s tomb is close to the village. However, the three farmers become impatient waiting for the return of Ming’s father to certify their find. Ming fights to hold on to the pieces of the terra-cotta solider for as long as possible, but when the village’s Political Officer realizes the potential monetary value of the discovery, he becomes involved in the dispute as well.As Ming ponders what to do to protect the pieces of this once great terra-cotta solider, he is astonished when the head begins to talk to him. Shi, the terra-cotta solider, quickly learns to trust Ming and Ming realizes that he finally has the friend he has wanted. Shi instructs Ming how to arrange his pieces so that his body can once again become whole. Shi tells Ming of his life in the China of 2,000 years ago, how he became a soldier in Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s army and how he was later selected to be one of the terra-cotta soldiers who guarded the Emperor’s mausoleum for eternity. Ming, who is about the same age as Shi, is fascinated by the stories of his new friend and vows to do what he can to protect Shi and to save his father from the labor camp.Ming quickly realizes that the village’s Political Officer and the three farmers intend to raid the Emperor’s tomb. The two boys, Ming and Shi, decide that they must warn the rest of the terra-cotta soldiers of the impending raid. Shi knows all of the traps found throughout the tomb and leads Ming safely through, revealing to Ming sights that have only been imagined and not seen by a living person for thousands of years. Readers will greedily consume the last chapters of the book in order to discover whether the new friends are successful.The text of SECRETS OF THE TERRA-COTTA SOLIDER is punctuated with numerous photographs that showcase artifacts from Emperor Qin’s time as well as images from Maoist China. Also included are Chinese words, such as Ba Ba for father, that are accompanied by their translations and written out in Chinese characters, as well. Finally, an extensive author’s note summarizes the history and events that inspired the novel.I believe that the authors had two purposes in writing SECRETS OF THE TERRA-COTTA SOLDIER. One was to tell an exciting adventure story; the second to inform readers about these historical events while fostering interest. While the story is interesting, it falls short of an exciting adventure as it is too predictable. The story serves more as a vehicle for information about this time period and in that way the second goal is most definitely accomplished. Readers will likely find the story interesting but it will be the history that will compel readers to finish this novel.

It is around 1974, and thirteen-year-old Ming, whose mother has died, lives in the small, remote Maoist Chinese village of Red Star. His father Chen, an intellectual who has been demoted by Mao, is an archaeologist with the museum in Xi’an. Chen believes that the tomb of the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang who built the Great Wall, with its life-size terra-cotta army created to serve and protect the emperor in the afterlife, lies hidden in the hills around them, though he has no actual evidence. In fact, while the father is away pleading for more time, the Gee brothers bring in one of the soldiers for Chen to examine. While Ming awaits his father’s return, the soldier miraculously comes to life and begins telling Ming all about the history of Emperor Qin, the Great Wall, and why the terra-cotta soldiers came to be. However, the town’s Political Officer finds out about it and hatches a plan to raid the tomb, sell the artifacts on the black market, blame Ming and his father, and condemn them to the brutal labor camps. Ming and the soldier, named Shi, escape to the mysterious tomb where Ming experiences the tomb firsthand, braves deadly traps, and witnesses the terra-cotta army in action. But will he be able to save both the terra-cotta soldiers and his father from the corrupt Political Officer and his Communist cronies? The book is illustrated with photographs of the excavated tomb with its many terra-cotta soldiers and the Great Wall, as well as of Communist Chinese village life in the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution. There are some instances of praying “to gods known and unknown,” including the kitchen god, and a few references to drinking wine. However, the action-packed adventure story contains a lot of history not only about the reign of Emperor Qin but also about small village life in 1970s China woven into the fictional narrative. The authors are a mother-and-son team. Ying Chang Compestine grew up in Communist China but now lives in the United States and is a popular author of children’s books who made herself known to the young adult literature community through her 2007 novel Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party based upon her childhood. Vinson Compestine is a National Merit Scholar. Intermediate readers will likely find Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier interesting both for its excitement and for its historical information about these fascinating time periods. Also included are Chinese words, such as Ba Ba for father, that are written out in Chinese characters and accompanied by their translations as well.

This was a cute and great book for getting children interested in Chinese History. I really liked the magical touch surrounding the Emperor's Tomb. I do think that the characters needed a little more as this book was more plot driven. But all in all it was a great book that should be read.

What a great book for boys with whom reading is their last choice of activities. The story is great, and they get a bit of a history lesson with it. Once again, Ying Compestine has not disappointed.