The Man Who Tricked a Ghost

by Laurence Yep, Isadore Seltzer (Illustrator)

This funny, lively ghost story by Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep is now available in paperback for the first time--just in time for Halloween! "Yep makes his first foray into picture books and comes up with a winner."--Booklist, starred review.

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Childrens, Monsters

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Born June 14, 1948 in San Francisco, California, Yep was the son of Thomas Gim Yep and Franche Lee Yep. Franche Lee, her family's youngest child, was born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia where her family owned a Chinese laundry. Yep's father, Thomas, was born in China and came to America at the age of ten where he lived, not in Chinatown, but with an Irish friend in a white neighborhood. After troubling times during the Depression, he was able to open a grocery store in an African-American neighborhood. Growing up in San Francisco, Yep felt alienated. He was in his own words his neighborhood's "all-purpose Asian" and did not feel he had a culture of his own. Joanne Ryder, a children's book author, and Yep met and became friends during college while she was his editor. They later married and now live in San Francisco.

Although not living in Chinatown, Yep commuted to a parochial bilingual school there. Other students at the school, according to Yep, labeled him a "dumbbell Chinese" because he spoke only English. During high school he faced the white American culture for the first time. However, it was while attending high school that he started writing for a science fiction magazine, being paid one cent a word for his efforts. After two years at Marquette University, Yep transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz where he graduated in 1970 with a B.A. He continued on to earn a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. Today as well as writing, he has taught writing and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Kathy Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Chinese folktale one of the first ever written and believed to have been written down by an emperor so this tale has a long history. A man named Sung travelling at night path crosses with a ghost and he uses various ways to try and get the ghost to tell him what ghost fear the most.

A good non-scary story for young ones at Halloween.

[Cortni Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year old son and I love this artwork. There are messages about bravery and cleverness that he has really enjoyed and been able to learn from. Love the brief history of the story at the end!

[Shelby Troutman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The man outsmarts the ghost. He makes the ghost believe that he too is a ghost and therfore, the true ghost does not scare him. This shows that sometimes you have to think outside the box and be brave if you want to succeed.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun and slightly spooky ghost story from China. The story is entertaining and the illustrations are colorful and not too scary. We loved that this story was so old and has lasted throughout the ages. We enjoyed reading this story together.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young man visits a friend in another village, stays too late, but decides to walk home in the dark even though his friend tries to get him to stay because he might encounter a ghost in the night if he walks home. He does meet a ghost and outwits him.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 5-year-old didn't find it scary at all (that's good) and she loves hearing anything related to China (despite the fact that she's about as Caucasian as it comes).