Yen, Adeline Mah. (2001). Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf. 224 pp.

Grade Range: 6-12

Genre: nonfiction

Summary and Critique

In this compelling memoir, Adeline Yen Mah relates the story of her heartbreaking yet inspiring childhood. Set in China in the 1940s, the book chronicles both the abuse the young girl endures as the last child of her father's first marriage and her quiet acts of courage in the face of adversity. When their mother dies a few weeks after giving birth to Adeline, the older children blame the young girl. Their powerful father basically ignores Adeline (except when she does extremely well in school). When Adeline's father remarries, the new wife—much like the evil stepmother of countless fairy tales—daily ridicules and humiliates the youngster. Unwilling to dishonor her family, Adeline tells no one about the abuse she endures. Ultimately, with the help of a grandfather and aunt, the perseverant heroine moves to England, eventually becoming both a successful doctor and a best-selling b4teens_author.

Written in a lyrical style, the memoir touchingly portrays both the plight and pluck of the young Adeline. Although most middle-school students will be able to read and enjoy the text, the book remains popular with adults, as well. Critics have praised Mah's book for its honest voice, historical details, and uplifting portrayal of one teen's valiant spirit.

Awards

ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Publishers Weekly Best Book

Themes/Topics

Families

Friends & Enemies

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Challenges and Triumphs

War & Peace

The Individual vs. Society

Author/Illustrator/Editor Information

Adeline Yen Mah's is a physician and a writer. Her first memoir, Falling Leaves, describes the author's search for her father's will which had been hidden from her by her stepmother. After the tremendous success of Falling Leaves (a New York Times best-selling novel), Adeline quit medicine in order to write full time. Chinese Cinderella, her equally successful second memoir, was quickly followed by Watching the Tree, a book on Chinese philosophy.

For more information on Adeline Yen Mah:

http://www.adelineyenmah.com/index2.html Web site offering information about Adeline Yen Mah (e.g., biographical facts, family pictures , upcoming events )

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/movingwords/celebritychoice/adelineyenmah.shtml This site contains excerpts from Falling Leaves. It also offers several passages in which Adeline Yen Mah states her reasons for writing Falling Leaves and Chinese Cinderella.

Media Connections

Movies/Documentaries

Ever After (1998) A 1990s version of the classic Cinderella fairy tale starring Drew Barrymore.

The Color Purple (1985) The film portrays forty years (1909-1949) in the life of Celie, an African-American woman forced into an abusive marriage with a sharecropper. Through courage, perseverance, and the support of a good friend, Celie eventually learns to read, take risks, and start a new life on her own. Nominated for 11 Oscars.

Mulan (1998) This Disney animated film portrays the adventures of Mulan, a young Chinese heroine. The story (based on a popular folk tale) recounts Mulan's exploits as she disguises herself as a man in order to save her village from the maurading Huns.

Hoosiers (1986) "Cinderella" story of a small-town Indiana basketball team in the 1950s that ultimately wins the state championship. Gene Hackman plays the inspiring coach who leads the Teens to victory.

Mi Familia (1955) Poignant story of three generations of a Mexican-American family who courageously create a new home for themselves in the barrios of East Los Angeles. Also released under the title My Family.

Gandhi (1982) The film traces 50 years in the life of Mahatma Gandhi as he evolves from lawyer to political rebel to spiritual leader in India. A fascinating study of the ways that power can be used to both demean and dignify members of a society. Winner of the "Best Picture" Academy Award.

Smoke Signals (1998) A young Native American orphan and his friend hit the road in order to bring home the ashes of the man who (at times) served as a father figure to them. A thoughtful, gentle-humored exploration of parent-child relationships.

Television

The Cosby Show – any episode (family relationships)

The Simpsons – any episode (family relationships)

Music

"How Come, How Long." Lyrics by Babyface and Stevie Wonder. BabyFace MTV Unplugged NYC. 1997. (a college-educated woman dies as a result of an abusive relationship)

Online Resources

http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/ An informative site that explores the issue of child abuse.

www.main.org/fccaustin/ ("Families with Children from China") An interesting look at issues that families face in Austin, TX, when they adopt (or try to adopt) children from China.

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/birth_order.htm ("Sibling Birth Order") This site offers a fascinating chart summarizing research related to typical characteristics of siblings based on birth order. A fun classroom activity would be to share this chart with students and ask if the findings reflect their personalities and/or those of their siblings.

http://tln.lib.mi.us/~amutch/jen "Reading Rants") This well-respected site offers an excellent list of high-quality literature for teenagers.

http://www.Suite101.com A popular site that publishes over 700 articles each month (adding to the existing catalogued archive of over 26,000 articles). More than 560"Contributing Editors" select these articles which cover a wide variety of topics (e.g., Reading and Literature, Education, Kids'Korner, Youth Corner, Society and Culture, Writing and Publishing, Entertainment, History and Politics). Very useful for teachers and parents.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/languagearts.html An amazing site containing great lesson ideas on a wide variety of subjects.

Related Texts

Schwartz-Kenney, Beth M., Michelle McCauley, and Michelle Epstein (Eds). (2001). Child Abuse: A Global View. Westport: Greenwood Press. 273pp. A nonfiction resource containing articles on child abuse in Australia, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, and many other countries. The articles are an excellent source for showing the cultural differences related to child abuse.

Sneddon, Pamel Shines. (1996). Brothers and Sisters, Born to Bicker? Springfield: Enslow. 112pp. This book interviews several high-school teenagers concerning their relationships with siblings. It also includes role-playing activities and tips on getting along with brothers and sisters.

Cox, Marian Roalfe. (1893). Cinderella: 345 Variants of Cinderella, Catskin, and Cap O'Rushes, Abstracted and Tabulated with a Discussion of Medieval Analogues and Notes. London: Chas. J. Clark. 535pp. This collection of folktales gives brief synopses of 345 different Cinderella stories. Each story is printed in this collection, along with information on the country and year of origin of the tale. Any of these stories would be excellent to compare/contrast with Chinese Cinderella.

Sa'edi, Gholam-Hossein. (1981). Dandil: Stories for Iranian Life. New York: Random House. 239pp. A fictional collection of stories about a young Iranian man who lives in poverty and endures his parents'beatings and neglect. This anthology would be good to contrast with Chinese Cinderella in terms culture and gender differences.

Voigt, Cynthia. (1995). Izzy, Willy-Nilly. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. 258pp. The story of a pretty, popular high school student whose leg is amputated due to a car accident involving a drunken driver. Izzy must come to terms with both her disability and the myriad ways people now treat her. This novel by Newbery Award-winning Voight explores many issues relevant to Teens (e.g., popularity, appearance, life goals).

Kaye, M.M. (2002). The Ordinary Princess. New York: Viking Children's Books. 112pp. When the king's seventh daughter is born, her fairy godmother bestows upon the child the unusual"gift" of being ordinary, even though her six sisters are gorgeous. The young girl initially struggles with her lack of beauty, but ultimately finds her own special prince. Kaye's young-adult novel provides a creative twist on the traditional Princess-meets-Prince-Charming fairy tale. (Disney's movie Shrek would also be a fun complement to this tale.)

Fletcher, Ralph. (1999). Relatively Speaking: Poems about Family. New York: Orchard. 42pp. The poems in this collection are written from the perspectives of a 16 year old, an 11 year old, and a soon-to-be-born baby who are all members of the same family. This collection deftly addresses the complexity inherent in all sibling relationships.

Mazer, Anne (Ed.). (1993). America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories. New York: Persea Books. 152pp. This wonderful anthology contains fourteen short stories about young people from some of America's most acclaimed authors (e.g., Robert Cormier, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gary Soto, Langston Hughes, Duane Big Eagle). Each story could be an effective complement to canonical texts in secondary-school curricula.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "Scar Stories" Have students think about the scars on their body. After a few minutes ask students to draw a simple stick figure and mark their injuries on the drawing. Students next add brief descriptions about their scars and how they got them. This activity can be shared with a partner or kept private if too personal. Later, these anecdotes might provide an opportunity for students to write personal narratives. [Summarized from "Scar Stories" by Sue Weems in Ideas Plus Book 18. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 9-10.]

(2) "Photos Lead to Mini-Character Sketches" Have students tear out a picture of someone they don't know from a magazine. Once in class, the students exchange pictures so that each person can look at a new picture with fresh eyes. After selecting a pseudonym for themselves, they write three short paragraphs about their photos. (1) Describe the person's physical appearance. (2) Describe the character's behavior in a way that will reveal something about the character's personality or appearance. You may invent any setting or occasion for your character. (3) Describe, as an author or narrator might, something about the internal state of the character. Internal state can be the character's thoughts, feelings, wishes, motivation, and so on.

Upon completion, the teacher staples the photo & 3 paragraphs together, then redistributes the writings to students working in small groups. (The writings discussed should not belong to any member of that group.) Since the texts all sport pseudonyms, students then are free to comment on the photos, writing, details presented, and say whether they think the character's appearance matches the mini-character description. [Adapted from "Photos Lead to Mini-Character Sketches" by Mary Whitaker in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. October 2003, p. 12.]

(3)"Settings and Maps" Students are asked to think about a character's'life in terms of a journey. First, students select 6-8 important events and/or places in the story. Next to each of these, the students jot down a direct quote, along with a phrase or a few sentences that explain the quote. After copying these events, places, key quotes, and related explanations on a poster board, the students present their ideas in either small groups or in front the class. [Summarized from "Settings and Maps" by Ray Chapin in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. October 2003, p. 2.]

(review written by Liz Buckingham and Joan Shiring)