Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

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Description

In 1966 Ji-Li Jiang turned 12. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything - brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Intelligence suddenly became a crime, and having wealthy ancestors meant persecution - or worse. Over the next few years, Ji-Li and her family were humiliated and scorned, and lied in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-Li was faced with the most difficult choice of her life. She could denounce her father and break with her family, or she could refuse to testify and sacrifice her future in her beloved Communist Party.

Reviews

"Absorbing. Jiang views devastating developments with the wide-eyed innocence of youth." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Heart-pounding. A page-turner. Excellent." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

"Engrossing. Transcends politics and becomes the story of one little girl trying to survive." -- ALA Booklist

"All the more powerful for the simplicity of its prose." -- New York Times Book Review

"Ji-li's deeply moving story should be on the shelf of every person's library. Her courage in the face of adversity and her steadfast loyalty and love for her family are truly inspirational for young and old alike." -- Nien Chang, author of A Life and Death in Shanghai

"I can only hope I would have shown the same decency and courage exhibited by Ji-li Jiang. Her actions remind me that, even under unbearable circumstances, one can still cling to love and justice. Above all, one can still hope for a happier tomorrow." -- David Henry Hwang, playwright of M. Butterfly

Author Bio

Ji-li Jiang was born in Shanghai, China, in 1954. She graduated from Shanghai Teachers' College and Shanghai University and was a science teacher before she came to the United States in 1984. After her graduation from the University of Hawaii, Ms. Jiang worked as an operations analyst for a hotel chain in Hawaii,then as budget director for a health-care company in Chicago. In 1992 she started her own company, East West Exchange, to promote cultural exchange between Western countries and China.