6/10, not recommended, go read The Ninth Child instead, if you want a book set in the 1800s. ( )

Yong is the oldest son of a man who is headman in the village and owes money to the money lenders after the famine in China. To pay this back, he gathers a group of villages and Yong and they travel to Victoria in the 1850s to try and find gold to pay off their debts. Yong is not happy about this as he wants to stay at home with his grandmother and siblings but it is his duty to follow his father. Yong can speak English but is forbidden to reveal this fact to the others on the trip by his father. The group lands in South Australia and must walk the 500 odd kms to Ballarat lead by a very dodgy bullock driver. Yong can understand what's going on but it is not until his father becomes very ill, that he has the nerve to explain to the others what is happening. Suspenseful and very true to life. ( )