Review and Contest For Girl in Translation

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the Silicon Valley Moms Book Club.

Girl in Translation is loosely based on author Jean Kwok’s family’s experience in coming to New York City from Hong Kong.  Eleven-year-old Kimberly Chang and her mother come to New York with visions of the Statue of Liberty and Times Square.  Instead, they wind up living in an apartment with roaches and rats.  Her mother works in a sweatshop, with Kimberly having to help after school along with all the other workers’ children just so the work given to them can get done.

Kimberly was at the top of her class in Hong Kong but she speaks very little English.  Still, she works hard to learn the language and her intelligence hasn’t left her.  She knows that if anyone is going to get them out of that apartment and to a better life, that it is she.

This book showed me that there is “another America”, for those who were not lucky enough to be born here.

Sweatshops in America?  Can this even be?  Well the answer is yes.

Born in America or not, this wonderful novel speaks of the universal themes of life; growing up and finding you way.  Going through school and learning how or where we will fit in, those embarrassing moments that you can look at now without scars, but moments all the same that you will never forget. The giddiness and heartbreak of love, figuring out what we are going to do with the rest of our lives.  Kimberly goes through them all, and we cry with her and triumph with her as well.

This is a book that will stay with you for a long time, and change the way you think about your life, and others whom we don’t always give as much thought to.  It’s a great summer read that you won’t want to put down, but so much more than that.

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Want to win this fabulous book that was read only once by a woman who has no contagious diseases?  Leave a comment here, and give yourself another chance to win by retweeting my tweet.  A winner will be chosen at random by midnight (12:00 a.m.) on Friday, July 2nd.  Good luck!

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About mamasick

Emily Cullen is a pen-name. I suffer from chronic illnesses and diseases which include Bipolar Disorder, Asthma, Diabetes and Fibromyalgia. I had battled Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis but there is no longer evidence of me having these diseases and my Rheumatologist has declared them to be "burnt out" of my system. I am separated from my husband, “Grant”. Our son, “Tyler” was born in September of 2006 and suffers from tics and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and is delayed in fine and gross motor skills. In my blog I seek to let sick moms know that they are not the only ones going through this, and to educate people about what can happens when one becomes catastrophically ill. I also strive to break down stereotypes of what a “Welfare Mom” is like. Anything that I have gone through due to being sick, is written on the pages of Mama Sick.
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