Girl in Translation
by
Jean Kwok
YA or adult fiction
and the book on CD Narrated by Grayce Wey
Kim and her mother immigrate from Hong Kong some time before it reverts to Chinese control (probably 1965-1980). They are sponsored by her mother’s sister who sets them up in a horrible, condemned apartment and gets Kim’s mother a job in a clothing sweat shop in Chinatown, New York. The mother deals with very long work days and Kim has to help her mother at the factory and at home whenever she is not in school. Kim struggles with cultural assimilation and extreme poverty.
The most memorable character is the "evil aunt". Kim's aunt does the minimal amount to help Kim and her mother to save face and show family loyalty, but really she treats them like dirt.
The book on CD features a narrator with a strong Chinese accent. I guess this makes sense. In the printed version, the main character hears some words wrong and the author puts them down in italics as Kim heard them wrong.
Topics for discussion:
Plight of Chinese immigrants;
Plight of immigrants;
Sweat shops;
Poverty in America
