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#23822 in Books Riverhead 2011-05-03 2011-05-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .80 x 5.10l, .50 #File Name: 1594485151320 pagesGreat product! | File size: 47.Mb

Jean Kwok : Girl in Translation before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Girl in Translation:

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Translation in TriumphBy C. McGowanGirl in Translation by Jean Kwok is a moving novel about a young girl and her mother immigrating to in order to achieve a better life after the untimely death of the child's father. However, success in America isn't as easily gained as the mother hoped it would be. Now facing poverty, destitution, and a bitter family debt, Ah-Kimberly, the young daughter, fights and claws her way through the American schooling system by day, and a Chinese sweat shop by night, in order to make a better life for her, and her mother.I would classify this novel a bildungsroman - a coming of age story where the moral and psychological growth of the protagonist from child to adulthood is measured in the great change of the main character. The novel depicts the true struggles of immigrants that come to this country NOT looking for a handout. And the truth of it is, it's hard. Very hard.The novel shares the living conditions of the naive family as they attempt to make a life in America. They reside in a roach and rat infested apartment found for them by their jealous and superficial Aunt (who runs the sweat shop), where both Ma and Ah-Kimberly barely survive. There is no heat and they sleep under piles of clothing, mostly inadequate, for the harsh winters of . They make ends meet by eating small meals of rice, using their oven to provide heat in the small kitchen, and sewing blankets and clothes out of fabric they find in trash dumps.The American schooling system is cruel and unforgiving for Ah-Kim. She certainly didn't come through the soft education system of the current times where everyone gets 1,000 chances to do everything, to pass everything. Her teachers, specifically the men, are mean and cruel. They mock her, accuse her of cheating when she does start to make progress, and shame her socially. The kids, well - they are American kids - disrespectful and indifferent to anyone that isn't like them. I cried the most reading about her schooling, especially when she was so young. It pained me, as a teacher, to read the way adults responded to her, to the way the other students treated her, to the indifference of the teacher to help her. But, like a truly intelligent girl, she beats the odds of the public elementary school system and is afforded an opportunity to go to a very private and prestigious private school.Ah-Kimberly's climb to success is painful and scarred, which makes moments of triumph that much sweeter.Jean Kwok paints an emotional journey of Ah-Kim and one the reader will not forget. I still feel tightness in my chest when I remember the struggles of this kind, hardworking family of two. I cried multiple times by chapter four, and the pull on the heart only increases as the reader becomes more involved with the story.This is a book I highly recommend - in fact I'm going to request to teach this book next year in place of To Kill a Mockingbird - that is how strong of an impact it made on me. It gives insight to a different culture and I appreciated reading about the Asian sociodynamics rather than reading yet another book about the black/white dynamic in America. This opened my eyes to the depth and tradition long steeped within Asian communities. It was the perfect book to read after Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (link for this review - found after Reached by Allie Condy on the same post). I enjoyed the distinctness and diversity of the these two novels, both creating a respect for a culture outside of my own.About the Author (from author page):Jean Kwok immigrated from Hong Kong to Brooklyn when she was five and worked in a clothing factory for much of her childhood. She won early admission to Harvard, where she worked as many as four jobs at a time, and graduated with honors in English and American literature, before going on to earn an MFA in fiction at Columbia.Her debut novel Girl in Translation (Riverhead, 2010) became a New York Times bestseller. It has been published in 15 countries and chosen as the winner of an American Library Association Alex Award, a John Gardner Fiction Book Award finalist, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick, an Orange New Writers title, an Indie Next Pick, a Quality Paperback Book Club New Voices Award nominee and the winner of Best Cultural Book in Book Bloggers Appreciation Week 2010. It was featured in , USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue and O, The Oprah Magazine, among others. The novel was a Blue Ribbon Pick for numerous book clubs, including Book of the Month, Doubleday and Literary Guild. Jean lives in the with her husband and two sons.To learn more about Jean Kwok, you can visit her website at [...]6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Wonderful book about the strength of the human spirit and the will to survive.By Carole P. RomanGirl in Translation is a wonderful coming of age story about a young girl coming to America to carve a place for both herself and her mother. Young Kim has a tough job ahead of her, working hard in school and then in her ruthless aunt's sweatshop to keep her small family in a run down tenement in Brooklyn. Defying the difficult conditions, working in the spirit that built this country, will she emerge from poverty to achieve her goals? This was a wonderful book, filled with a tender romance, and fraught with setback after heart wrenching setbacks. The predicament of the immigrants is as pitiful as it is shameful, that in this great country such abuse could occur. Kim's every victory is a shared triumph and a joy to read. I loved this book. it is a testament to the human spirit, filled with hope and though it is laced with heartache, the message of survival is not lost in translation. Beautifully and authentically written, this book ultimately is about responsibility and duty, and how we choose to guide our conscience.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Must-read with a main character equal parts grit and sparrowBy Jase WomackIf you are considering reading this book, I encourage you to do so.I wouldn't say that I am well-read, but I have been blessed with educated grandparents who send me books they consider exceptional and meaningful. Although this book did not come to me through their recommendation, it easily keeps company with the classics and masterpieces that have. I have found kinship and inspiration in Kim, the protagonist, whose will is the bedrock on which her story rests. Her journey to escape poverty and find a meaningful adulthood is one that transcends backgrounds, but the rich culture of Kim's Chinese heritage is as important to her character as it is to the setting of this book. I can happily say I will be looking for more of Ms. Kwok's work.

Introducing a fresh, exciting new voice, an inspiring debut about a Chinese immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures. When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life-like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition- Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.Through Kimberly's story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic American immigrant novelmdash;a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.

From Publishers WeeklyA resolute yet naiuml;ve Chinese girl confronts poverty and culture shock with equal zeal when she and her mother immigrate to Brooklyn in Kwok's affecting coming-of-age debut. Ah-Kim Chang, or Kimberly as she is known in the U.S., had been a promising student in Hong Kong when her father died. Now she and her mother are indebted to Kimberly's Aunt Paula, who funded their trip from Hong Kong, so they dutifully work for her in a Chinatown clothing factory where they earn barely enough to keep them alive. Despite this, and living in a condemned apartment that is without heat and full of roaches, Kimberly excels at school, perfects her English, and is eventually admitted to an elite, private high school. An obvious outsider, without money for new clothes or undergarments, she deals with added social pressures, only to be comforted by an understanding best friend, Annette, who lends her makeup and hands out American advice. A love interest at the factory leads to a surprising plot line, but it is the portrayal of Kimberly's relationship with her mother that makes this more than just another immigrant story. (May) Copyright copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ldquo;Jean Kwok'snbsp;Girl in Translationnbsp;speaks eloquently.nbsp; Searing debut novel... poignant.rdquo;nbsp; mdash;nbsp;USA Todaynbsp;nbsp; "Kwok drops you right inside Kimberly's head, adding Chinese idioms to crisp dialogue. And the book's lesson--that every choice comes at the expense of something else--hits home in every language." mdash;nbsp;People Magazine "Consistently compelling."nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Entertainment Weeklynbsp; ldquo;Dazzling fiction debut.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Marie Clairenbsp; "Part fairy tale, part autobiography... buoyant."nbsp;mdash;nbsp;O, The Oprah Magazine ldquo;Girl in Translation, the astonishingmdash;and semi- autobiographicalmdash;tale of a girl from Hong Kong who, at eleven, shoulders the weight of her motherrsquo;s American Dream, from Chinatown sweatshop all the way to the Ivy League.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Vogue "Kimberly Chang, the girl in the title of Jean Kwokrsquo;s first novel, comes to New York from Hong Kong in the early 1980s with her mother, chasing a better life. Ms. Kwok, herself an immigrant, renders Kimberlyrsquo;s confusion seemingly from the inside."nbsp;mdash;nbsp;The New York Times "Inspired by her own first hand experience of immigration, Kwok writes with quiet passion about the strange dichotomy of growing up surrounded by the glitz of New York, while being barely able to afford to eat.... irresistible power."nbsp;mdash;nbsp;The Independent ldquo;Warm and affectinghellip; a compelling pleasurehellip; manages that rare fictional feat of shifting forever the angle from which you look at the world.rdquo;nbsp;mdash; The Daily Mail "Kwok thoughtfully pens a tale of the desperation and cruelty often faced by newcomers."nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Bustleldquo;Infused with optimism and a can-do spirit.rdquo;nbsp;mdash; The Financial Timesldquo;Compellinghellip; an unforgettable storyrdquo;nbsp;mdash; The Global Timesldquo;Potenthellip; a fresh, compelling take on the American success story.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;nbsp;The Seattle Times ldquo;Simple, searing, richly detailed prosehellip; hilarious and wrenching. Immigrants, new and old, will find much to savor here, from the drama of family secrets to the confusing coming-of- age.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Booklist nbsp;ldquo;A resolute yet naiuml;ve Chinese girl confronts poverty and culture shock with equal zeal when she and her mother immigrate to Brooklyn in Kwok's affecting coming-of-age debuthellip; more than just another immigrant story.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;nbsp;Publishers Weekly nbsp;ldquo;Kwok adeptly captures the hardships of the immigrant experience and the strength of the human spirit to survive and even excel despite the odds.nbsp; Reminiscent of An Na's award-winning work for younger readers,nbsp;A Step from Heaven, this work will appeal to both adults and teens.rdquo;nbsp; mdash;nbsp;Library Journalnbsp; ldquo;In this moving story of hardship and triumph, a woman must live a double life as a scholar and a sweatshop worker after she emigrates from Hong Kong to America with her mother.rdquo;nbsp;mdash; The San Francisco Chronicle ldquo;It is impossible not to fall under the spell ofnbsp;Girl in Translationrsquo;s tough, plucky narrator as she struggles to make a place for herself in America. Kwok is a natural storyteller who eloquently captures the difficulty of living in two worlds, and the quiet sadness of never feeling quite at home in either. This is an altogether captivating debut shot through with moments of humor and grace.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;Julie Otsuka, author ofnbsp;When the Emperor Was Divinenbsp; ldquo;A moving coming of age story, reminiscent ofnbsp;A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The possibility of Kimberly Changrsquo;s extraordinary struggle and achievement is what makes America a great nationmdash;generous, forgiving and full of hope. Kwok perfectly captures the voice and perspective of a young immigrant, and the result is a powerful work about love, sacrifice and faith.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;, author of the bestsellingnbsp;Free Food for Millionairesnbsp; ldquo;A journey into a world that would otherwise be veiled,nbsp;Girl in Translationnbsp;contrasts both sacrifice and accomplishment in the most satisfying of ways. Kwokrsquo;s vibrant prose makes us live Kimberlyrsquo;s life almost as if it were our own.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;Brunonia Barry, author of the bestsellingnbsp;The Lace Readernbsp; ldquo;I love how this book allowed me to see my own country, with all its cruelty and kindness, from a perspective so different from my own. I love how it invited me into the heart and mind of Kimberly Chang, whose hard choices will resonate with anyone who has sacrificed for a dream. Powerful storytelling kept me turning the pages quickly, but Kimberlyrsquo;s voice ndash; so smart and clear - will stay with me for a long time.rdquo;nbsp;mdash;Laura Moriarty, author ofnbsp;The Center of Everythingnbsp;From the Hardcover edition.About the AuthorJean Kwok was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Brooklyn as a young girl. Jean received her bachelorrsquo;s degree from Harvard and completed an MFA in Fiction at Columbia. She worked as an English teacher and Dutch-English translator at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and now writes full-time. She has been published in Story Magazine and Prairie Schooner.

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