Cynthia Chin-Lee

Cynthia Chin-Lee

Granddaughter of an illegal immigrant from China, Cynthia Chin-Lee is proud to have her paper (documented) name, Chin, and her real name, Lee, as her combined surname. It reminds her of the harsh immigration laws that allowed only a few hundred Chinese to immigrate to the US legally in the late 1800s until the 1940s. Cynthia grew up in Washington, DC, attended Harvard University, and was a graduate fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu. She currently lives in Palo Alto, CA. Cynthia has published a book about social networking and five children’s books, including the best-selling Amelia to Zora: Twenty-six Women Who Changed the World. She enjoys sharing stories of truth and wisdom to help children face the challenges of racism, sexism, and homophobia.

2012: Operation Marriage has received a Gold Medal in the annual Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, in the Spirit/Compassion category, for dedication to children’s books and literacy and for inspired writing, illustrating and publishing.


Operation Marriage

Operation Marriage

SKU: 9781604864229
Author: Cynthia Chin-Lee • Illustrations: Lea Lyon
Publisher: PM Press/Reach and Teach
ISBN: 9781604864229
Published: 10/2011
Format: Hardcover, ePub, PDF, mobi
Size: 8.5 x 11
Page count: 32
Subjects: Children’s Picture Book, Family



Praise

“Operation Marriage is an honest, insightful, and touching story illustrating the many ways that lack of marriage equality impacts kids’ lives. Its messages—perseverance, trusting oneself, facing adversity and standing up to it—are universal, but its approach to the particular social challenge of marriage inequality fills a void in the children’s book world. There is power in seeing a problem from a child’s perspective, and much that we grown-ups can learn from looking at the world through a child’s eyes. This book belongs in every school library and on every public library shelf.”  —Sarah Hoffman, author of Pink Boys

“Cynthia Chin-Lee very sensitively deals with the subject of same sex marriage by telling the true story of one couple and their children. Children are very ready to start talking about the civil rights issues of our time and this book is a great jumping off point to get those conversations started.”  —Jacinta Bunnell, author of Girls Are Not Chicks Coloring Book

“Even 3rd-graders know that commitment ceremonies are not weddings and domestic partnerships are not marriage. Operation Marriage shows how important marriage is to children and that they understand that anything less, is less than equal.”  —Dr. Davina Kotulski, psychologist, and author of Why You Should Give A Damn About Gay Marriage (2004) and Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why it Will Prevail (2010)

“Cynthia delights audiences, with careful consideration not to leave anyone out. Her books are winners.”  —Heidi R. Kling, author of Sea

“The strength here is Lyon’s watercolor illustrations in summer greens, golden yellows, and coppery browns that evoke the heat of warm days spent with friends.”  —School Library Journal, on Playing War


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