Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok was one of the books downloaded for last month's holiday but not started until my return. Yesterday's luxury was two cafe con leches and a morning dedicated to Kimberly Chang's journey. A young girl and her mom who leave Hong Kong for Brooklyn in search of a better way of life. It sounds like a line from a movie trailer but the story is much richer than your typical Hollywood survival. Long hours in a sweatshop factory with sealed windows, a debt to family who is willing to give an opportunity to move to the US but not to provide adequate living conditions, and a girl who is more brilliant that she allows herself credit through her school years, except for one powerful scene with her headmaster.
There were a number of things I liked about this book. Kimberly and her mom faced the challenges in a day to day manner. At the advice of a friend during a challenging period, I adopted this approach and found that days somehow managed to string into weeks and months and you one day find you've survived something you never thought possible when thinking about it in years. I liked the measurement of items by the number of skirts. I liked the direct translation of an expression into English. I liked the characters, and I admired Kimberly's choices. I'd like to give her mom a hug but perhaps a bow might be more suitable. Ms. Kwok did a fantastic job of capturing my attention and reminding me of daily gratitude.
I hope you had a great weekend and found a bit of time to read, relax and be grateful.
No comments:
Post a Comment