"Boxers & Saints", Sisters of the Desert Sun's January 2015 Selection

Sisters of the Desert Sun is getting ready for the new year, and we are excited about our upcoming reads.  We will begin our year with a New York Times bestselling author, Gene Luen Yang and his amazing and inspirational 2-part graphic novel "Boxers & Saints".  Members will get together to view a Kung Fu demonstration and possibly take part in a beginner's class before we take part in what we are certain will be a very lively discussion.  For more information about this and other SDS meetings, please continue to check this blog and visit us on Facebook, Twitter (@SistersDzrtSun), Goodreads or email us at sistersofthedesertsun@gmail.com.

From the Publisher

In two volumes, Boxers & Saints tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the role of missionaries. Little Bao, inspired by visions of the Chinese gods, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers. Against all odds, their grass-roots rebellion is successful.

But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity.

 Boxers & Saints is one of the most ambitious graphic novels First Second has ever published. It offers a penetrating insight into not only one of the most controversial episodes of modern Chinese history, but into the very core of our human nature. Gene Luen Yang is rightly called a master of the comics form, and this book will cement that reputation.