The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 8 November 2004
by Dorris Shelton Still
This little book was published in 1942, and, for its time, paints a surprisingly sympathetic picture of Tibetans and their culture. Sue is a 12-year-old girl who, with her parents, treks to the far eastern Tibetan town of Batang, where her father opens a medical clinic. The book is written for young people to read, but has less of the stereotypical description common in books of the time. Tibetan medicine is depicted as primitive, but not necessarily barbaric. Tibetan people are suspicious of foreigners but are not described as somehow backward, just culturally different. Sue, being a young girl, gets to discover some of the unique characteristics of Tibetan culture, and through her the reader learns, too. Dorris Shelton Still writes as one who has a thorough knowledge of Tibetan culture, and she uses Sue to depict everyday life as well as larger events. The Tibetans and Chinese are battling along this frontier, and Sue's father gets involved as a negotiator for both sides. Events manage to get Sue entangled in the local politics as well, but she is up to the task, like a younger Nancy Drew. The book is not entirely free of stereotypes, though. Sue's father is level-headed and strong, and their Chinese cook is comically stereotyped. But overall, the book reads well, is better written than many of its contemporaries with similar topics, and is, itself, something of a historical document.