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Girl in Translation

Kwok, Jean. Book - 2010 Fiction, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kwok, Jean 2 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.7 out of 5

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Call Number: Fiction, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kwok, Jean
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
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Downtown 2nd Floor
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Fiction 4-week checkout Due 04-14-2024
Westgate Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kwok, Jean 4-week checkout On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books
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Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kwok, Jean 4-week checkout Due 04-14-2024

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Surprise Ending submitted by finnabar on November 3, 2010, 9:25am I loved the characters in this book, and was frustrated at first by the prologue. "Why finish the book if I know how it's going to end"? I asked. Wrong! It has a surprise ending. The story is very intriguing, and the characters truly human. The setting seems familiar yet new: if you thought you knew Brooklyn and Manhattan, look again. It's a great coming-of-age story (I love coming-of-age stories!) about a young Chinese immigrant and her mother. I highly recommend this well-written book.

Beautiful submitted by Sara W on June 28, 2011, 9:49am Gorgeous fiction with characters so finely drawn that I kept having to remind myself it wasn’t a memoir.

Good Travel Novel submitted by eringogreen on June 28, 2011, 2:04pm This is a good, quick read. It gave me a glimpse into what life would be like in great New York City as an immigrant, and while you can probably imagine some of it, this book really brought it to life and as a previous reviewer said, it felt like a memoir.

Girl in translation submitted by jayin on August 17, 2011, 8:02am Engaging, informative but not overwhelming. The perfect summer read. The author makes a few choices that make this an adult book rather than a teen book.

Fairy-Tale elements submitted by shpowers on June 13, 2014, 7:50pm I read this book for a contemporary literature class at the University of Michigan. My favorite part of class discussions involved analyzing the fairy-tale/folklore elements Kwok uses throughout the work's seemingly modern plot. Yale feels like a palace, and Curt is even a surprising prince charming at points. The novel's end twists traditional ideas of happily-ever-after and leaves the reader wondering whether they would have made the same choice too.

A Must Read! submitted by mickplu on June 18, 2018, 8:56pm I loved this book from the beginning to the end. Virtually autobiographical, Kimberly Wang moves from Hong Kong to NYC at the age of 10, knowing very little English. Kimberly and her mom live in an apartment that should be condemned and use their stove to heat the unit in winter. Despite working alongside her mother, in what would be described at best, as an illegal sweatshop, Kimberly excels in school, eventually making it into Yale. There is a bit of a surprise ending, but throughout the book, you'll be cheering her on as she tackles one adversity after another.

Good submitted by zmclaugh on July 8, 2019, 7:42pm An intense portrait of the immigrant experience and of poverty. Kimberly is a sometimes unbelievable protagonist, but the peek into her world is certainly needed.

A perfect balance of elements submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 16, 2021, 8:43pm What a wonderful and compelling story. I often don’t enjoy stories about children, because they just seem so… hyped. They make kids into heroes that they aren’t in real life (no teen has yet saved the planet or taken down a corrupt government with a group of their scrappy friends). But _Girl in Translation_ strikes all the right notes about being a child and, in this case, managing both childhood, culture shock, work & school, relationships, language barriers, poverty, family, and the necessity of achieving or dying. I love what I learned about immigration and Chinese culture in the US, and it matches and reinforces little bits of knowledge that I have about sweatshops, kids translating for their parents, and deep poverty from my work experiences. Overall an outstanding story that will also teach the reader a few things along the way. What a perfect balance.

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PUBLISHED
New York : Riverhead Books, 2010.
Year Published: 2010
Description: 293 p.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9781594487569
1594487561

SUBJECTS
Chinese -- New York -- Fiction.
Women immigrants -- Fiction.
Chinese American teenagers -- Fiction.
Mothers and daughters -- Fiction.