Synopsis
In order to save her baby sister, fourteen-year-old Chu Ju leaves her rural home in modern China and earns food and shelter by working on a sampan, tending silk worms, and planting rice seedlings, while wondering if she will ever see her family again.
Set in China after the cultural revolution, this novel follows the experiences of a 14-year-old girl named Chu Ju. Because the Chinese government has ruled that parents are allowed to have only two children, and because society as a whole deems daughters far less desirable than sons, Chu Ju and her parents are hoping that her mother's pregnancy will result in a boy. When a second daughter is born, Chu Ju decides to run away, thus leaving her parents with only one daughter--and the chance to try to have another child. Now facing life on her own, Chu Ju travels through China, taking work where she can find it and experiencing life on the edge of society.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2004-04-01 |
| Size | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 12.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
One girl too many . . . When a girl is born to Chu Ju's family, it is quickly determined that the baby must be sent away. After all, the law states that a family may have only two children, and tradition dictates that every family should have a boy. To make room for one, this girl will have to go. Fourteen-year-old Chu Ju knows she cannot allow this to happen to her sister. Understanding that one girl must leave, she sets out in the middle of the night, vowing not to return. With luminescent detail, National Book Award-winning author Gloria Whelan transports readers to China, where law conspires with tradition, tearing a young woman from her family, sending her on a remarkable journey to find a home of her own.
Industry Reviews
"This tale of survival and self-sacrifice gives a graphic portrayal of authoritarian rule, but emphasizes the strength and compassion that can endure even among the oppressed, and Whelan skillfully shows the perspectives of both sides of the revolution. Facing one test of courage after another, Chu Ju emerges as a heroine worthy of the rare and coveted rewards she ultimately receives."
Publishers Weekly (03/01/2004)
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