One morning, Julie wakes up to the sound of her grandmother, Poh Poh, practicing Chinese sword-dancing in the living room. Poh Poh tells Julie the story of her childhood in China, how she learned to sword-dance and worked with a travelling theatre that brought her to North America, where she made a new life for herself. A celebration of Poh Poh’s courage and resilience that led her to cross the world and forge a new life. The book ends with this text:
That night, Poh Poh carefully takes out the sword and lets me hold it. I feel its weight and strength.
The sword was not used for slaying dragons or for fighting, but it had done bigger things.
Poh Poh used it to build a life for herself and for me. It let me learn to read and write and dance and sing and dream.
“Thank you, Poh Poh,” I say.
“Thank you for being brave.”