A child's nightmare unfolds in Jiang's chronicle of the excesses of Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution in China in the late 1960s. She was a young teenager at the height of the fervor, when children rose up against their parents, students against teachers, and neighbor against neighbor in an orgy of doublespeak, name-calling, and worse. Intelligence was suspect, and everyone was exhorted to root out the ``Four Olds''—old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. She tells how it felt to burn family photographs and treasured heirlooms so they would not be used as evidence of their failure to repudiate a ``black''—i.e., land-owning—past. In the name of the revolution, homes were searched and possessions taken or destroyed, her father imprisoned, and her mother's health imperiled—until the next round of revolutionaries came in and reversed many of the dicta of the last. Jiang's last chapter details her current life in this country, and the fates of people she mentions in her story. It's a very painful, very personal- -therefore accessible—history. (Memoir. 11-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-027585-5
Page Count: 271
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1997
When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73343-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006
Technically owned by the Holcomb family’s Aunt Sophia, the illegitimate “high yellow” Sis Goose (named for a Brer Rabbit–type story) has lived her entire life as an adopted and favorite member of the wealthy Texas family. Afraid of a slave uprising and the loss of their work force, the Holcombs and neighboring landowners keep news of the Emancipation Proclamation a secret, even from Sis Goose. When the Union Army arrives at the end of the Civil War to occupy the Holcomb plantation and announce the end of slavery, the betrayal of Sis Goose and her own secret (that she is carrying her “brother’s” baby) spark tragedy. While Rinaldi raises interesting questions about the nature of bondage and freedom, her story glosses over the origins of Juneteenth and subsequent celebrations, focusing instead on the Holcombs’ highly implausible situations. The cover is even misleading, not aptly depicting a light-skinned Sis Goose. Stick to the McKissacks’ nonfiction Days of Jubilee (2003) and wait for a more accurate novel on the subject. (Historical fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-15-205947-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
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