Title: Revolution is not a dinner party / Ying Chang Compestine.
ISBN 9780805082074
Publisher New York : Henry Holt and Company, 2007.
Annotation Starting in 1972 when she is nine years old, Ling, the daughter of two doctors, struggles to make sense of the communists' Cultural Revolution, which empties stores of food, homes of appliances deemed "bourgeois," and people of laughter.
This historical fiction takes place during the Cultural Revolution in China, so recently it feels like current events, but so far away from our consciousness it seems rooted in fiction. The events were real and the story feels real as well. Naive, 9 year old Ling does not quite grasp all that is going on. Her love for her father is evident. Her grousing about her mother makes her more accessible as a character. I didn't expect to like this book, I thought it would be on my list as the politically correct choice. I was wrong, it was a well written story with power. I'm not sure what title to "bump off", but it's definitely going to end up on my top ten.
Beth Jonus
Closter Public Library
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3 comments:
This book is also on my top pic list. I, also, read it thinking that it would be dry and not my thing, but I loved the book.
The characters feel and sound real. The history doesn't read as dry or dusty, because the author has first hand experience with the period. This isn't a book about the cultural revolution, it's a book about a girl growing up during the cultural revolution. It's a fine distiction, but one that makes a big difference when your reading it.
Another reason this book is one of my top for the year is that the Cultural Revolution isn't something that shows up in a lot of children's historical fiction.
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!and im only 11 years old. I realy enjoyrd hoe "diferent" it was...
And those characters ARE REAL!!!I met her in real life...
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