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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
dark
sad
slow-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I loved how the author used her childhood story to create a new version of the traditional Cinderella story! Adeline's upbringing is truly heartbreaking, but does bring an inspirational message to all struggling. An overall great read, especially since I don't usually read non-fiction.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Hard to read. This is an autobiography about an unwanted daughter in a traditional family. I read this story when I was younger and remember not being able to put it down. I was almost surprised at the way this story has help up over the years, but it is beautiful and haunting.
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Adeline lives in Tianjin with her father, stepmother (Niang), aunt (Baba), grandparents (Ye Ye and Nai Nai), four older siblings and two younger step siblings. Her mother died due to complications with childbirth after delivering Adeline, and as a result, the family had decided that Adeline was “bad luck” (according to traditional Chinese beliefs). Adeline is bullied by most members of the family except for Aunt Baba and her grandparents. The the book begins in 1941, when Adeline comes home from her first week of kindergarten having won an award for leading the class. Aunt Baba cherishes the certificate, storing it in her safe-deposit box, and at dinner that night, her father expresses his pride over her achievement. Though her siblings seem resentful of her award, this is the first time that Adeline feels approval from her father, and she begins to understand that school might be a place where she can excel and make her family proud.
During this time, Adeline is fascinated by her grandmother Nai Nai’s bound feet. Nai Nai explains that her feet were broken and bound as a child to adhere to beauty standards. She experiences constant pain because of this and envies Adeline’s ability to walk and run comfortably, telling her that she should remember how lucky she is. One evening, after witnessing Nai Nai soak her feet in warm water to manage the pain, Adeline learns that Nai Nai suffered a severe stroke shortly afterward and died.
During the winter of 1942, Adeline’s father begins to receive attention from Japanese authorities (then in control of Manchuria) who have taken an interest in his lucrative business. To escape he flees south to Shanghai, taking both Niang and their youngest son with him. This is one of the earliest signs of familial hierarchy based on race throughout the book; Niang is half French (Yen Mah uses the anachronistic term “Eurasian” to describe her biracial identity), and Father consistently favors his wife and their children together because of their European ancestry and appearance. Adeline enjoys the year that she and her older siblings spend apart from their parents because they finally feel free and can do anything they want to.
Eventually, Adeline’s father returns to Tianjin to collect the children and move them into the family’s new home in Shanghai. When the family is reunited, Adeline’s young stepsister no longer recognizes Niang and displays an aversion to her mother. In frustration, Niang starts abusing her daughter, and Adeline jumps to her defence, telling Niang to stop. Niang’s response is livid, and she tells Adeline that she will “never forgive” her for challenging her parental authority. This is one of many instances that reinforce Adeline’s low status in the family hierarchy: Nobody bothers to escort her to or from her new elementary school, her parents refuse to pay her tram fare (thereby forcing her to walk miles every day), and all the children from Father’s first marriage are relegated to the home’s third floor and restricted from visiting the second floor where Niang and her children live.
The children from Father’s previous marriage are all aware of the system of neglect that has been imposed on them and begin making plans to rebel. When Niang overhears them, she halts their efforts by abruptly favoring Big Sister, who is offered a room on the second floor. The brothers and Adeline feel betrayed; without Big Sister’s leadership, they cannot successfully fight the injustices within their household. Shortly afterward. Adeline’s pet duckling, PLT, is killed by Father’s German shepherd when he uses the duckling as bait for a training exercise. Adeline mourns PLT with Third Brother, holding a funeral for her in the back yard.
At school in Shanghai, Adeline becomes a talented writer and makes a close friend for the first time: Wu Chun-mei, an athletic girl in her class who was born in the United States. American forces begin exerting cultural influence over China after the end of World War II, and these geopolitical shifts are reflected in the girls’ school curriculum. A democratic election is held to determine the class president, and Wu Chun-mei nominates Adeline. Around the same time, Wu Chun-mei eagerly invites Adeline to her birthday party, unaware that Adeline is not allowed to visit friends or have them over because Adeline has not shared details about her home life. Adeline decides to go to the birthday party, using a surprise day off from school to disguise her absence from her parents.
At the birthday party, Adeline realizes that she is expected home for lunch and hurriedly returns home, promising to be back by the time the other girls are eating cake. When she does not make it back to the party on time, Wu Chun-mei calls Adeline’s house and Niang discovers her secret attendance of the birthday party. Furious, Niang forbids Adeline from returning to the party and grounds her in her room. When Father arrives home from work, he whips Adeline and announces that she can no longer share a room with Aunt Baba. Later, Adeline wins the class election, and when her friends show up to the house to throw her a party, Father and Niang decide that she will be sent to an orphanage as punishment.
Niang and Father take Adeline back to Tianjin to board at her Catholic former elementary school. Because the communist army is closing in on Tianjin and are known to persecute Christian institutions, most students begin leaving at the same time that Adeline arrives. Eventually, she is the only student left, and the nuns are unsure how to handle her education. Niang’s sister Reine arrives one day to rescue Adeline, informing her that she will be reunited with the rest of the family in Hong Kong. Reine is blissfully unaware that Adeline is despised by Niang and thinks that the reunion will be a happy one. On the voyage to Hong Kong, Adeline dreads their imminent arrival even as she makes friends with Reine’s children.
In Hong Kong, Adeline is relieved to find that she can stay with Ye Ye in the family’s house. Niang continues to exclude her, but both Ye Ye and Reine’s son, Victor support her.When Reine’s family leaves, Niang and Father send her away to another boarding school in Hong Kong. Adeline continues to excel at writing here but begins to doubt herself. On a rare visit, Ye Ye admonishes her for her lack of confidence and tells her that she can use her academic talents to forge a life for herself. Adeline promises to work harder for him.
When she comes across an international student playwriting competition, Adeline enters and dedicates her submission to Ye Ye. Shortly afterward, she learns that Ye Ye has died and must attend the funeral. At the funeral, Niang calls Adeline ugly and asserts that Adeline will have to begin paying for her own education if she would like to continue. Afraid that her only joy in life, learning, will soon be taken away from her, Adeline waits for the results of the competition. One day, she is summoned to her father’s office, where he shows her a newspaper article announcing that she has won and brought honor to Hong Kong. Adeline capitalizes on her victory and convinces her father to let her study in England like her brothers. The last chapter is a letter from Aunt Baba congratulating Adeline on her good turn of fortune and comparing Adeline’s life to the traditional Chinese tale Ye Xian (“Chinese Cinderella”).
Like:
- Wun Chun Mei being a good friend
- Aunt Baba being her own character
Dislike:
- Adeline trying to act cool and trying to ft in instead of trying to tell people who could help her, her problems
- Ye Ye and Aunt Baba being so helpless against their own family
- The book ending in a cliff hanger type of way, and not answering questions given to the reader
- Niang being the evil stepmother character
Quotes:
“I read because I have to. It drives everything else from my mind. It lets me escape to find other world.”
Like:
- Wun Chun Mei being a good friend
- Aunt Baba being her own character
Dislike:
- Adeline trying to act cool and trying to ft in instead of trying to tell people who could help her, her problems
- Ye Ye and Aunt Baba being so helpless against their own family
- The book ending in a cliff hanger type of way, and not answering questions given to the reader
- Niang being the evil stepmother character
Quotes:
“I read because I have to. It drives everything else from my mind. It lets me escape to find other world.”
challenging
emotional
sad
I never knew a parent could be so cruel in this was to a child, I loved it so much. The book made me laugh,smile, cry and have this feeling in my heart about change
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Read for Year 7 English.
It was interesting.
It was interesting.
emotional
informative
sad
My Favorite
I first received this book 12 years ago and I have read it at least a dozen times, probably far more. Adeline helped me through my darkest teen years and even at its worst I knew that she would be proud of me. She gave me hope and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I first received this book 12 years ago and I have read it at least a dozen times, probably far more. Adeline helped me through my darkest teen years and even at its worst I knew that she would be proud of me. She gave me hope and I'm sure I'm not the only one.