Homebaseis the coming of age story of Rainsford Chan in 1950s and '60s California. Rainsford is a fourth-generation Chinese American named after the town where his great-grandfather worked during the gold rush. Orphaned at fifteen, he attempts to claim America as his homebase, and his personal history is interwoven with dreams, stories, and letters of his family's life in America. Moving through time and place, the story allows the reader to discover the past as Rainsford does, to see the world through his eyes, and to learn the truth about the Chinese American experience.

Shawn Wongis the author of the novelAmerican Kneesand an editor of several anthologies of Asian American literature, includingAiiieeeee!andThe Big Aiiieeeee!. His work has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing fellowship and numerous other prizes. He is professor of English at the University of Washington, Seattle.