| Forbidden City | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | William E. Bell |
| Cover artist | World Wide Photos |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young-adult fiction |
| Publisher | Seal Books by arrangement with Doubleday Canada |
| Publication date | 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 274 |
| ISBN | 0-7704-2813-4 |
Forbidden City is a novel based on the events of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. It is a story of maturation/bildungsroman/coming of age.
Contents |
This book begins with a 17-year-old boy named Alex who enjoys subjects related to military history, and travels to Beijing with his journalist father, Ted, to record some Chinese affairs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and cover the student protests. While they were there, they grasped the opportunity to record some peaceful student protesters, who were fighting for their human rights and democracy. The protest escalates into a confrontation with the government at Tiananmen Square, and protesters claim they will not stop until the government gives in. The protests continue, then days before the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev is due to arrive, the students begin a hunger strike, in order to embarrass the government, which declares martial law. Then, on June 4, 1989, Alex and his father happen to be in the square when the People's Liberation Army marches in and opens fire on the protesters, as a final attempt to quash the protests. Alex's guide and friend, Lao Xu is killed. He and his father are separated and Alex is shot in the leg by the soldiers. In an attempt to get the horrific events occurring in China broadcasted to the rest of the world, some of the university students take him in, and try to help him recover. They plan to get Alex to the Canadian embassy, where he will be safe from the PLA, who are hunting down foreign journalists. Unfortunately, he never gets there. Instead, Alex and his friend Xin-Hua are stopped by the soldiers, and Xin-hua is shot. They then push Alex into a taxi, which is heading for the airport. Once at the airport, he is reunited with his father, and they manage to get back to their hometown of Toronto,ON,Canada and tells his mother the story of his experience. Alex loses interest in war.
The book won the 1991 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award[1] and several other awards.[2]
The book is included in reading material for some Canadian elementary schools and Highschools [3] and American high schools. In 2006 the book was banned in Mainland China.