The Girl Mechanic Of Wanzhou

by Marjorie Sayer

Twelve year old Zun lives in China, 1902. Like her father, she’s at home in the world of machines. She knows whether to grease or oil, how to true a wheel, and the heartbreak of over-tightening. She believes great times are ahead, as soon as her father builds China’s first bicycle factory. That dream halts one terrible night.

Genres: Historical Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2012

About the author

Born in Hong Kong to parents of Chinese, Indian, Persian and English descent. Educated in math and physics. Big fan of bicycles, jazz music, and literature.

Reviews

[Aanya Sachdeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

IT WAS AWESOME!!!


I mean like yeah, it was hell depressing ALOT of pain T-T

But still I loved the book!!!!!
And I soooooo wish there was a sequel to this.................
And Zun is soooo brave







I wanna be like that too

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction based in China in 1902. Wonderful short story about a young girl in imperial China on a heroine's journey. Like all heroes, Zun must face her fears and weave her way through trials and tribulations on the path to rescuing her parents. The author does a beautiful job setting the scene, painting a colorful picture of this bygone place and time. There are exciting, suspenseful scenes as Zun embarks on her adventure, showing cunning resourcefulness and strength. It's a lovely children's story and especially nice with a strong female central character. As someone who appreciates historical fiction and who is less familiar with imperial China, I enjoyed it as an adult. The author's interesting and unique background definitely shines through in her book.

[Tanja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a surprisingly hard time with this book. I just couldn't really get into the story and also found much unresolved and little satisfying in the end. This had been one of the HK Battle of the Books 2015 titles I had been most looking forward to read. Maybe my expectation were too high... There were just too many things that didn't convince me. I am very much looking forward tough to hearing from my students and what they think of the book. They might get me to reread it to change my mind.

[Prudence Breitrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

First impression is that Sayer has done a masterful job of anchoring this book in its time and place, with the sounds and sights and even smells of old China. Then the plot swoops off into semi-magical episodes something like those in the movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." A very satisfying read, hard to put down.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Girl Mechanic of Wanzhou by Marjorie Sayer – 4th grade and up – Historical Fiction with a madeup setting – I enjoyed the adventure and appreciated the cultural experience embedded into the story. This was a tough book, think students will enjoy it but will need to push through the first few chapters to get invested in reading it…

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was interesting throughout the story. It was pretty boring on the first chapter, but it made me think.

[Nurin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It inspire me a lot,i love it~

[Nancy S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I had no idea what to expect. It was an adventure. Totally readable. Great characters. This could be a movie. Go pig-pig!