A fantastic interview with Ruthanne Lum McCunn over at Bookslut (and also posted at the Smithsonian Bookdragon blog) made us think that you all should read a sample of her completely amazing novel, Thousand Pieces of Gold. The book is a biographical novel about the life of Lalu Nathoy, aka Polly Bemis, a Chinese woman who was auctioned as a slave in San Francisco and later bought her freedom and became a pioneer legend. Here is an excerpt of the novel we're sharing on Scribd. You can find a reader's guide to the book on the Beacon website.