Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
by Adeline Yen Mah
Book Summary Information
Author: Adeline Yen MahEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-03-13
ISBN: 0440228654
Number of pages: 224
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440228653
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
Book Review: Heartbreaking tale of an unwanted child
Summary: 4 Stars
Adeline Yen Mah has dedicated her autobiography to all 'unwanted' children and is indeed skilfully written and engaging book which will fill you with sadness and empathy as well as admirtaion for this little girl in Shanghai, whose mother died soon after she was born, and who faced a childhood of negelct and cruelty by her father and her truelly evil step mother 'Niang' . Her only allies in the household were her gradparents and her Aunt Baba.
In some sense this as much resembles a true life Chinese Dickens type story .
Her father forgot to fetch her from school, her father and stepmother beat her for visiting friends, ot because friends visited their home, neglected to her where Niang's own children were pampered and even set their dog to kill the little girl's beloved pet duck.
When she was ten they sent her away to an orphanage, never visitng her or writing to her. When the Communists seized mainland China, in 1949, Adeline, at 11, moved with her family to Hong Kong where she attended boarding school.
Adeline winning the prize in a prestiguous international writing competition persuaded her father to agree to send her to study medicine at Oxford University, England.
This is an iunforgetabble, heartlifing but ulimately uplifting told with spirit and honesty. A skilfully written piece of modern literature.
Summary of Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter
A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s.A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for -- the love and understanding of her family.
Following the success of the critically acclaimed adult bestseller Falling Leaves, this memoir is a moving telling of the classic Cinderella story, with Adeline Yen Mah providing her own courageous voice.
Chinese Cinderella is the perfect title for Adeline Yen Mah's compelling autobiography in which, like the fairy-tale maiden, her childhood was ruled by a cruel stepmother. "Fifth Younger Sister" or "Wu Mei," as Yen Mah was called, is only an infant when her father remarries after her mother's death. As the youngest of her five siblings, Wu Mei suffers the worst at the hands of her stepmother Niang. She is denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's wishes. Her father even forgets the spelling of her name when filling out her school enrollment record. In her loneliness, Wu Mei turns to books for company: "I was alone with my beloved books. What bliss! To be left in peace with Cordelia, Regan, Gonoril, and Lear himself--characters more real than my family... What happiness! What comfort!" Even though Wu Mei is repeatedly moved up to grades above those of her peers, it is only when she wins an international play-writing contest in high school that her father finally takes notice and grants her wish to attend college in England. Despite her parent's heartbreaking neglect, she eventually becomes a doctor and realizes her dream of being a writer.
Teens, with their passionate convictions and strong sense of fair play, will be immediately enveloped in the gross injustice of Adeline Yen Mah's story. A complete glossary, historical notes on the state of Chinese society and politics during Yen Mah's childhood, and the legend of the original Chinese Cinderella round out this stirring testimony to the strength of human character and the power of education. (Ages 10 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert
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