No Such Thing as Far Away

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Michael is a young Caucasian boy who has lived all his life in
Chinatown. An old Chinese herbalist, whom Michael calls Grandpa Doc,
lets Michael play in his shop and on Saturdays they go out together for
dim sum. One day Michael asks Grandpa Doc how he could be happy living
so far away from his native land. The old man replies “there is no
such thing as far away when you carry a place with you.”

Soon afterward Michael’s mother tells him that they are moving.
Michael is devastated at the thought of leaving Chinatown. Grandpa Doc
reminds him that “there is no such thing as far away when you carry a
place with you.” On the evening after the move, Michael finds himself
in a strange bed looking at new shapes on the ceiling. He sees a space
ship, a tiger ... and a bus like the one that will take him back to
Chinatown next Saturday for dim sum.

This is a book about place and change. Just as Grandpa Doc manages to
create a home far away from his native China, Michael learns to create a
new home for himself by carrying part of his old home in his heart.

Laura Langston handles her subject with sensitivity. Robert Amos’s
illustrations work very well with the text. Recommended.