The Stamp Collector

Gr 3–5—This is a story about two Chinese men whose lives intersect, one a prisoner and the other his guard. The prisoner is a people's poet who writes about the dying land. His writing is deemed to be dangerous and he is arrested as a political prisoner, but his work offers the people hope, and their letters of support come from all over the world. Though the prisoner is not allowed to see them, the guard, attracted to their stamps, reads the letters and eventually begins to pass them along to the writer. This act shows the writer that he is not alone as he grows sick and dies. More mature readers will appreciate the important political message of this book. Rich, dramatic, layered imagery reflects the serious subject matter. The story is fiction, though it is inspired by the experiences of imprisoned writers Nurmuhemmet Yasin and Jiang Weiping.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA