Wow! Girl in Translation has definitely gone on my Top 10 List as I read this book cover to cover (iBooks kind of have covers right?) in less than 72 hours after I downloaded it! Kimberly Chang and her mother leave life as they know it behind when they move from Hong Kong to live in the United States. A life full of hard times, including her father's death as well as her mom's health scare with TB, brings the two to the U.S. in search of the "American Dream".
Kim and her mom are able to come to America by having their way paid for by a relative in the states (as well as many more things are covered by this relative... as you'll see in the story). They are given an apartment (of which they slowly pay back their family for the costs) and employment in a sweatshop run by the same relative. They are guilted into accepting the crummy living conditions of an apartment with broken windows (garbage bags are used to replace the missing glass) as well as sharing residency with mice and roaches as they are continually told that they would not be able to afford better. Continually Mrs. Chang thanks her sister for all she has done. As culture teaches, one should be grateful for all that is given to them. Kim is the one who truly sees what her aunt is really up to. There's more to the story, but I don't want to ruin everything when it comes to the strained relationship between the two sisters.
In Hong Kong, Kimberly was one of the top, if not at the top of the class academically and was praised by her teachers and administrators. In America she is given a "fake" address so she is able to attend a decent school, yet she struggles academically as little support is in place to help her learn to speak English. This once highly motivated student comes to decide that rather than feel embarrassed and shamed at school, she will skip school for several days. Once she returns to school things begin to look up as she shines in mathematics and a scholarship opportunity comes that will have the chance to change her life forever! Kim makes the conscious choice that her and her mother deserve better, and that her academic success is the only way out of the slums.
I loved this story, despite the hardship the Chang's faced, the barbaric conditions described in the sweatshop and the fact that children, including Kimberly herself, were forced to work in the sweatshop to help their parents earn pennies in wages. The title "Girl in Translation" means so many things to me metaphorically. Kim is truly a girl in translation as she learns to become "Americanized" while feeling like she only ever comfortable within the confines of the crowded Chinatown restaurants. She is lost in translation when the English dialect and culture make little sense to her and all she has come to know in Hong Kong. She is in translation when she leads two separate lives - one as a bright young student and another that secretly works in a sweatshop by nightfall.
With a mix of romance thrown in for the full effect, this story is a keeper in my treasury of favorites!
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