Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

Author Andrea Wang’s latest book is beautiful in text and art, and at the same time heartbreaking and inspiring. The path to the heart of WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE she shares here is such a perfect example that shows how “heart” arises from the connection between author and research, that it’s personal. And powerful.

GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment below to be entered in the drawing for a copy of WORTHY!

Congratulations to DG, the winner of WOODY’S WORDS from Lisa Rogers!

Mining for Heart in the Absence of Compassion: WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE by Andrea Wang

It was too long. It read like a list of battles. It was boring. Such was the feedback I got on the first drafts of WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE. I admit that last comment was from my own internal, ever-present, critic. But it was all true, no matter the source. I had done so much research on Joseph Pierce, who had been born in China and sold in 1855 to an American ship captain at the tender age of ten, but I had little besides facts and figures to show for it. 

Nearly all of the primary documents on Joseph’s life have been lost to time. When I was writing the book, I knew of only two existing photographs (I’ve now learned of a third), some paperwork regarding his service in the Union Army, his citizenship document, and a few articles in newspapers that quoted Joe or someone who knew him. Together, it was just a handful of ephemera on which to reconstitute a life. I didn’t have anything that revealed Joe’s thoughts and feelings, and I didn’t want to fictionalize his story. What to do?

It was during a webinar about historical nonfiction when the brilliant Lesa Cline-Ransome said something that struck me hard. I don’t recall her exact words, but the gist that I got was that, in the absence of hard data like first-person accounts, you could extrapolate from what was going on in society at the time. 

For a couple of years, I read hundreds of articles about Chinese people in U.S. newspapers during the 1800s. It was a dark time for me – all the hatred, racism, and bigotry directed against Chinese people, printed in stark black-and-white. I was furious, and horrified, and sad. It was difficult not to take it personally, to not feel dehumanized. And when I came across an article that said, in part, “Your Chinaman is the most worthless citizen possible,” I felt such visceral outrage that I knew this quote had to be in the book. It had to be the heart that I built Joe’s life around.

Because who are we to determine someone else’s worth? How can anyone – so callously! So nonchalantly! – disparage an entire race?! The lack of compassion for Chinese people disturbed me deeply.

I studied the two photos of Joe. In one, he is wearing his Union Army uniform and staring into the camera with a resolute expression. In the other, he’s wearing a full tuxedo, complete with bow tie, vest, and tails. His queue, the braid that Chinese men wore at the time, can be seen hanging down his back. He stands with his right side facing the camera, one hand on his hip, the other resting on the table in front of him, exuding pride. These two photos showed a man who knew his own value.

That was the Joe that I sought to portray in the book. I used the facts of his actions to counter the hateful newspaper quotes and the way society discriminated against Chinese people. In this way, I was able to create a narrative that showed Joe’s humanity, his hopes and dreams, his love for his family and adopted country. I hope that readers will be inspired by Joe’s story to believe in their own worth and that of the people around them, no matter how different they may appear to be at first. 

Don’t forget to leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway for a copy of WORTHY: THE BRAVE AND CAPABLE LIFE OF JOSEPH PIERCE! (US addresses only, please. Winner announced 10/3/25.)

😍 If you enjoy a book, please support authors and illustrators by taking a moment to leave online reviews.