Chinese Cinderella is the story of Adeline Yen Mah's childhood as she grew up in a family which despised her. Her mother died just weeks after giving birth to her, and as such, her family considered her "bad luck" and treated her terribly. Though she consistently won top honors at school, she got very little recognition at home-- in fact, anytime she brought home an award, she was told she was being a showoff and should be ashamed of herself. Over and over again, her family moved her to different schools, even abandoning her in boarding schools in unsafe political climates.
This book is geared toward teens, but that's not obvious from the writing. She even goes into details about the Chinese language and family structure. (Thanks to my friend Jenny, I already knew that ur ga ga means second oldest brother.) :)
This book hints at the author's adulthood, but to get the rest of the story, pick up the author's other book, Falling Leaves.
2 comments:
Sounds like an interesting book. I'm pleased you still remember the few Chinese words and phrases I taught you! You've got good memory. :) How's your sis? Been praying for your family.
I even remember some of Dani's Portugese. I sent a book to a chick in Portugal the other day and when I looked at her bookcrossing page, I thought..."Hey, this is in Portugese!"
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