Synopsis
A memoir by Ji-li Jiang who was a 12-year-old girl living in China when Chairman Mao launched the 1966 Cultural Revolution. Ji-li was an excellent student with the promise of a great future, but with the advent of the Cultural Revolution, intelligence was seen as a crime and her family's wealthy background meant that they were persecuted by their former friends, neighbors, and colleagues. When Ji-li's father was arrested, Ji-li had to decide if she should protect herself and denounce him or refuse to testify against him and put her own future in danger.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-10-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 304 pages | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 8.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
In 1966 Ji-li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over ht next few years Ji-li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co-workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-li faced the most difficult choice of her life. Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family's courage and determination during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century.Ji-li Jiang was twelve years old in 1966, the year that Chairman Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in China. An outstanding student and much-admired leader of her class, Ji-li seemed poised for a shining future. But all that changed with the advent of the Cultural Revolution, when intelligence became a crime and a wealthy family background invited persecution'or worse. For the next three years Ji-li and her family were humilated and reviled by their former friends, neighbors, and colleagues and lived in constant terror of attack. At last, with the detention of her father, Ji-li was faced with the most dreadful decision of her young life: denounce him and break with her family, or refuse to testify against him and sacrifice her future in her beloved Communist Party.
Told with simplicity, innocence, and grace, this unforgettable memoir gives a child's eye view of a terrifying time in twentieth-century history'and of one family's indomitable courage under fire.
01 Blue Spruce Award Masterlist (YA Cat.)
When China's Communist Party detained Ji-li's father, the 12-year-old was faced with the most difficult choice of her life. She could denounce her father and break with her family--or she could refuse to testify and sacrifice her future in her beloved Communist Party. A "Publishers Weekly" Best Book of 1997.
Industry Reviews
"Seemingly simple, this account brings readers fact to face with understanding the way every society has assumptions about choices and values....Jiang's memoir changes the way we see the world and ourselves."
Five Owls - Carol Edwards
"Jiang tires to re-create what she was thinking and saying at the time. This leads to much fictionalized dialogue, and Jiang changed names to shield the victims. Still, this re-creation of a sensitive girl's reaction to the maelstrom of her environment rings true. The writing is lively, and the narration often is heart-poundingly suspenseful."
San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - John Philbrook (12/21/1997)
"...successfully conveys what it is like to live under a totalitarian regime in which the individual has no rights and information is tightly controlled. Her voice is that of an intelligent, confused adolescent, and her focus on the effects of the revolution on herself, her family, and her friends provides an emotional focal point for the book, and will allow even those with limited knowledge of Chinese history to access the text."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books - Janice M. Del Negro (02/19/1998)
"It's a very painful, very personal--therefore accessible--history."
Mosher
The passionate tone of this memoir, Jiang's first book for children, does not obstruct the author's clarity as she recounts the turmoil during China's Cultural Revolution. It is 1966, and Ji-li, a highly ranked student, exceptional athlete and avid follower of Mao zealously joins her classmates in denouncing the Four Olds: "old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits." Tables are turned, however, when her own family's bourgeois heritage is put under attack. Even when the 12-year-old's dreams of a successful career are dashed (as quickly as her opportunities to attend a prestigious high school and to join youth organizations), and she must watch in horror as relatives, teachers, neighbors and friends are publicly humiliated and tortured, her devotion to ingrained Communist principals remains steadfast ("It was only after Mao's death that I knew I was deceived," she says in the epilogue). Jiang paints a detailed picture of everyday life in Shanghai ("Almost every Sunday afternoon Dad wanted to take a long nap in peace, and so he gave us thirty fen to rent picture books") while slowly adding the dark strokes of political poison that begin to invade it. Her undidactic approach invites a thoughtful analysis of Ji-li's situation and beliefs. She astutely leaves morals and warnings about corruption and political control to be read between the lines.
Lopate
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