Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution
Common Sense Note
The foreign words and phrases can be confusing, though the glossary is helpful. Jiang's writing sometimes strains for effect, and the narrative ends abruptly, but the story is engaging.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cindy Kane
"Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao." Ji-Li Jiang grew up accepting these words.
She struggles to be a good Communist almost to the end of the book, even trying at one point to change her name to avoid being identified with the landlord Jiangs. At the same time, Ji-Li is too intelligent to ignore the ironies and contradictions in her tormentors' dogma.
Torn by conflicting emotions, she is the perfect guide to the complexities of the Cultural Revolution, which many readers will encounter for the first time here. One eleven-year-old reader commented, "Ji-Li was living a normal life, and then this terrible thing happened to her. It showed me that this could happen to anyone."
The most dramatic scenes occur after Ji-Li's father has been taken into custody. Ji-Li is now old enough to put her beliefs into action, and the pressure on her intensifies. Told repeatedly to break with her parents, she tries, even leaving her ailing mother to harvest rice in the countryside. But she is too honest, too good, and too loyal to desert her family; she is a true heroine.
From The Book
You are different from your parents. You were born and raised in New China. You are a child of Chairman Mao. You can choose your own destiny: You can make a clean break with your parents and follow Chairman Mao, and have a bright future; or you can follow your parents, and then ... you will not come to a good end.
Plot Summary:
In her memoir of growing up in Shanghai during China's Cultural Revolution, Ji-Li Jiang paints a clear and devastating portrait of a brutal political movement that ruined many lives. The engaging story makes young readers want to know more about the subject.
Related Books:
More information about the Cultural Revolution is provided in The Chinese Cultural Revolution, by David Pietrusza, which is aimed at young adults. Part of the movie The Red Violin is set during the Cultural Revolution. An interesting book on another persecuted group is Kathryn Lasky's Beyond the Burning Time, a novel based on the Salem witch trials.
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ViolenceJi-Li's grandmother is slapped in the face. Beatings and suicides are included. |
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LanguageMild expletives are used several times. |
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