Born in Spalding, Saskatchewan, in 1956, Paul Yee is a third generation Chinese-Canadian. Perhaps best known for his award-winning children's work Tales from Gold Mountain: Stories of the Chinese in the New World, Yee has also written well-received books for both young adults and adults, including Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver and Breakaway. His works address such themes as racism, alienation, and the New World versus the Old World.

Yee grew up in the Chinatown area of Vancouver, British Columbia. His parents died when he was very young, and he was sent to live with a foster family. Later, his aunt and uncle, who had been raising Yee's older brother, took him in as well. As Yee explained to Dave Jenkinson in Emergency Librarian, "I think there was a sense of a family responsibility as well as a personal need on my aunt's part...