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A review by oomilyreads
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
5.0
Girl in Translation written by Jean Kwok
“The only future I could see for us, for you, was here, where you could become whatever you wanted”.
Is that not the sought after ‘American Dream’? 11-yo Kimberly (Ah-Kim) Chang & her Ma emigrates from Hong Kong to the US with her aunt as their sponsor. Soon, it’s clear that her aunt only wants to use them in her sweatshop factory, paying ‘piecemeal’ while taking advantage of Kimberly (and many other Chinese kids) as free child labor. Her aunt corners them into living in a condemned roach & rodent-infested apartment with no heat (except the open oven) in the projects of Brooklyn.
Her mother is an accomplished musician but as many immigrants who arrive without money & resources, they must start from scratch. Kimberly & her mother battled extreme poverty for years. Their saving grace is that Kimberly is exceptionally intelligent & realizes that the only escape is through striving for a better education.
I felt incredible sadness for this young girl who barely had a childhood and having to grow up quickly to survive. The burdens & shame she harbors while keeping their poverty a secret and attending school with extremely privileged & sheltered kids leads her to have two lives. She is unable to depend on her mother to help her navigate her teenage years and rather she becomes self-reliant & independent.
“All I wanted was to have a break from the exhausting cycle of my life, to flee from the constant anxiety that haunted me: fear that we’d never escape.”
Epilogue made me angry. Without spoilers – I understood the initial decision, but the final decision 14 years later was selfish & almost cruel.
Clearly, the Asian diaspora is not a monolith. I had many similarities to Kimberly. I had a lot of adult responsibilities and even when I was away in medical school – my parents would call me demanding I do things for them back home. I’ve defended my parents on multiple occasions from racism & had to grow up quickly. We were on welfare. However, my parents never made me work as a child & even reprimanded me when I got a job as a teenager because it was about “face” – what others see from the outside. Kimberly talks about this often.
I highly recommend this to everyone! Can't wait to read Kwok's other works!
Recently, I had a conversation with author, Jean Kwok about the ending of this book and she is soooo incredible. I just love her! I really can't wait to read Mambo in Chinatown and Finding Sylvia Lee.
“The only future I could see for us, for you, was here, where you could become whatever you wanted”.
Is that not the sought after ‘American Dream’? 11-yo Kimberly (Ah-Kim) Chang & her Ma emigrates from Hong Kong to the US with her aunt as their sponsor. Soon, it’s clear that her aunt only wants to use them in her sweatshop factory, paying ‘piecemeal’ while taking advantage of Kimberly (and many other Chinese kids) as free child labor. Her aunt corners them into living in a condemned roach & rodent-infested apartment with no heat (except the open oven) in the projects of Brooklyn.
Her mother is an accomplished musician but as many immigrants who arrive without money & resources, they must start from scratch. Kimberly & her mother battled extreme poverty for years. Their saving grace is that Kimberly is exceptionally intelligent & realizes that the only escape is through striving for a better education.
I felt incredible sadness for this young girl who barely had a childhood and having to grow up quickly to survive. The burdens & shame she harbors while keeping their poverty a secret and attending school with extremely privileged & sheltered kids leads her to have two lives. She is unable to depend on her mother to help her navigate her teenage years and rather she becomes self-reliant & independent.
“All I wanted was to have a break from the exhausting cycle of my life, to flee from the constant anxiety that haunted me: fear that we’d never escape.”
Epilogue made me angry. Without spoilers – I understood the initial decision, but the final decision 14 years later was selfish & almost cruel.
Clearly, the Asian diaspora is not a monolith. I had many similarities to Kimberly. I had a lot of adult responsibilities and even when I was away in medical school – my parents would call me demanding I do things for them back home. I’ve defended my parents on multiple occasions from racism & had to grow up quickly. We were on welfare. However, my parents never made me work as a child & even reprimanded me when I got a job as a teenager because it was about “face” – what others see from the outside. Kimberly talks about this often.
I highly recommend this to everyone! Can't wait to read Kwok's other works!
Recently, I had a conversation with author, Jean Kwok about the ending of this book and she is soooo incredible. I just love her! I really can't wait to read Mambo in Chinatown and Finding Sylvia Lee.