"John Espey writes of his boyhood days in China with irony and slicing wit, a sort of Tom Sawyer and the missionaries, compassionate and yet honestly critical, and always mindful of the ways that human nature both undermines and uplifts us."--Amy Tan

"These memoirs are fascinating and entertaining, but the reader should be warned: Look out! If you read this book you will fall in love with the author."--Ursula K. Le Guin

"Surely Espey must be the only writer in the world who could produce high comedy about Presbyterian missionaries without in any way jeering at their sense of dedication."--Robertson Davies

"Timelessly charming, John Espey is as witty as he is wise. And what a joy to hear his urbane and infinitely civilized voice."--Alice Adams

"Written with grace and infused with understated insight. . . . a leisurely journey to a time and place accessible only through the careful memory of a uniquely qualified and generous guide."--Michael Dorris

"These delightful classics seem especially fresh and meaningful today, perhaps even more than when they were published. Drawn with exceptional charm and acuity, they picture the intersection of two cultures--those of the Chinese, and the missionary parents, from the point of view of the lively children caught between, who could see and question what was good and bad in each, rather as today we sense the problems in our own worlds, and the things we have to learn from the East."--Diane Johnson