jeannamichel
Written on Feb 22, 2019
Kimberly Chang has her world turned upside-down when she moves with her mother from their home in Hong Kong to New York. But their new life doesn't quite live up to their expectations - living in a vermin-ridden apartment in Brooklyn, the pair only have a sometimes working oven to keep warm. They have nothing but debt and neither of them speaks a word of English.
While her mother spends her days earning two cents a garment at a sweatshop, intellectually gifted eleven-year-old Kim faces a new and trying challenge: school. Exiled by language, estranged in a new culture and weighed down by staggering poverty, Kim must learn to translate not just her language but who she is as she straddles these two very different worlds.
In this powerful story, Jean Kwok spins a moving tale of hardship and triumph, of heartbreak and love, of all that's said without words and all that gets lost in translation.
- ISBN10 1905490623
- ISBN13 9781905490622
- Publish Date 29 July 2010 (first published 1 April 2010)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 18 April 2012
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Imprint Fig Tree
- Format Paperback
- Pages 304
- Language English
Reviews
layawaydragon
Written on May 13, 2018
The narrator was great, though I don't know why they seem to change at Chapter 3.
The prologue was heart wrenching, caused tons of tension and stress while I was reading, trying to figure out how it's going to sync up. I honestly did not see so many things coming. I was anxious and burning with curiosity up until the very end.
Kimberly is such a strong, capable, ethical, and brilliant person. Her misunderstandings with English and American culture are occasionally adorable, hilarious, and embarrassing. Her hobby in the end surprised me yet makes perfect sense that I can't imagine it any other way. I will never forget her section about dating, flirting, and connecting with the boys about the longing for freedom. That party and kiss though? *swoon*
And I'm glad that this case does include safe sex with a common misunderstanding to dissuade people of doing it. Wrap it up, but only once! Though I did find the ultrasound moment outlandish personally. I haven't heard of anything like that happening so early.
I about jumped out my seat and cheered for Kimberly on SEVERAL occasions. Raged throughout about the bullshit circumstances imposed on her. Cried at the ending. I was completely immersed and connected every step of the way.
I love her move against Greg the bully and making the staff eat crow.
Curt is a mess. A white privilege mess that is totally the opposite of Kim. I honestly love him. I did NOT expect that to happen, TBH. But damn, if he isn't adorable, naive, and such a stand up guy. But I get it, Kim. No hard feelings.
Matt on the other hand? Eh. Kim's lust after him is understandable and they do have shit to bond over, no doubt. But I am so over that "me man, me provide" nonsense. It's a pity about toxic masculinity and his family baggage dragging him down the scale. Brutally honestly though, he didn't seem good enough for her. That he was right about and it killed me when Kim didn't see that with her low self esteem. But ah, love is love.
FUCK AUNT PAULA. Fuck her punk ass son Nelson. Fuck Mr. Bogart. Fuck the factories and the injustice. Fuck Luke with the fight to flirt nonsense. Fuck them accusing her of cheating and being racist.
Awww Annette. I'm so glad they're friends and loved seeing them grow up. She can be a bit oblivious, but she tries and Kimberly does keep Annette in the dark on purpose so you can't really blame her for that. The only thing is, where the fuck is she in the epilogue?!?
I love several of the Chinese (or should I say Cantonese?) phrases and wrote them down to keep like "calculating of self" meaning jealous, "my climbing cannot meet your heights", "sending out the cat"= cheating, "hurts my heart so much I'm vomiting blood", "moon tan" = midnight walk, and her mother's definition of unladylike meaning anything that makes the knees part. The insulting people with animal organs is great. Kim is fantastic at it and I love her all the more for it.
Problematic Stuff:
There is a character that appears to be on the Autism spectrum and many people are horrible about it. They call it "the white disease" and there's a shared family shame culturally for medical issues like this. Nelson, the punk cousin, calls a colorful shirt "gay".
Heather
Written on Dec 15, 2016
This book is heartbreaking. From the beginning you just want to hug these characters and beat up anyone who wants to harm them. It is immediately obvious that the author is writing about her life. The details that are included about living in extreme poverty in a condemned building while relying on an illegal job that pays pennies for piecework have to come from lived experience and not research.
I was ready to fight the evil Aunt who oh so generously brings her little sister and niece to the U.S. and then knowingly dumps them in these conditions. She pretends to be helping them SO MUCH out of the KINDNESS OF HER HEART while leaving them in a building with no heat. She underpays them and then manages to steal back a lot of the money they earned. She needed somebody to whup her.
Even people who were nice to them did not have the ability to understand what was happening to them. One of her friends started to see but asked her wealthy parents and was assured that she must have the situation confused because no one lives like that.
This is a story that anyone who thinks that immigrants get handed new lives in the United States needs to read. This is a story that wealthy people who think that children and poor people don't work dangerous jobs that defy labor laws in the U.S. need to read. This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story
Quirky Cat
Written on Feb 10, 2012