Gillian Chan was married to a Chinese Canadian in 1982. She has used his family stories to enrich the details of An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-ling (Scholastic, 2004). Written in the form a diary from 1922-1923, this fictional memoir recounts the difficulties faced by young Mei-ling and her father in Vancouver when they are separated from her mother and baby brother still in China. Her father must work at several jobs in order to earn enough to pay the head tax to bring the rest of his family to join them. Gillian Chan's first book Golden Girl and Other Stories (Kids Can, 1994) was nominated for a Governor General's Award. It was followed by Glory Days and Other Stories and The Carved Box. She is not a B.C. writer but An Ocean Apart is realistically set in Vancouver.

BOOKS:

Golden Girl and Other Stories (Kids Can, 1994)
The Carved Box
An Ocean Apart: The Gold Mountain Diary of Chin Mei-ling (Scholastic, 2004)

[BCBW 2004] "Chinese" "Kidlit"