Girl in Translation

Written by Jean Kwok

Narrated by Grayce Wey

From the author of Searching for Sylvie Lee, the iconic, New York Times-bestselling debut novel that introduced an important Chinese-American voice with an inspiring story of an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures. 

When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life—like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition—Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.

Through Kimberly's story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant-a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Apr 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9781101155011

Jean Kwok

Jean Kwok is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee, Girl in Translation, and Mambo in Chinatown. Her work has been published in twenty countries and is taught in universities, colleges, and high schools across the world. She has been selected for numerous honors, including the American Library Association Alex Award, the Chinese American Librarians Association Best Book Award, and the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award international shortlist. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and earned an MFA from Columbia University. She is fluent in Chinese, Dutch, and English, and divides her time between the Netherlands and New York City.

Reviews for Girl in Translation

[tangledthread · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Story of a young girl and her widowed mother who emigrated to the US from Hong Kong at the time of transition to Chinese rule. There is child labor, extreme poverty, and familial cruelty. Academic success helps Kim to succeed and improve the circumstances for her and her mother.

[kwagnerroberts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fiction book but is sadly the tale of so many before it. A tale of perseverence.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Adult fiction. Coming-of-age/immigrant story loosely based on author's own background.

[hccpsk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kimberly Chang and her mother arrive in New York from Hong when Kimberly is just five years old at the beginning of Jean Kwok’s Girl in Translation. In debt to her older sister for helping them come to the US, Kimberly’s mom struggles at a dress factory, and they live in a slum apartment. Kimberly begins to excel at school--enough to go to the best private school, but she still goes to the factory in the afternoons to help her mom and she grapples with the contrast in her life. Girl in Translation is an interesting immigrant coming-of-age story that documents the difficulties many Asian Americans face. Some plot points are a bit bumpy, and Kwok chose to wrap the entire novel up with a clumsy epilogue, but it’s still a worthwhile read for anyone looking for AAPI stories.

[tshrope · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I’m not sure why this book has garnered such buzz and great reviews. The writing is straightforward and easy to read, but far from being literature. This book seems to belie the fact the author has an MFA in fiction, or perhaps this is all it takes to get an MFA in fiction from Columbia these days-I don’t know. Perhaps the book should have been categorized as YA since it seems to have been written for an eighth grade reading level. I was especially annoyed by the use of italics to start each new thought within a chapter. Someone needs to teach this author and/or the editor how to use italics.

This is a coming of age story about an 11-year old Chinese girl who comes from Hong Kong with her mother to live in NY in an abandoned tenement with no heat, and work in a clothing factory sweatshop. Kimberly, the young girl, is exceptionally bright so is able to get into a private school on a scholarship and is able to fulfill the American dream of working hard and becoming a success.

There is no depth to her story or characters. The story is told in a linear “just the facts” manner: “And then this happened, And then this happened, And then this happened, And then 12 years Later…” And she does not make the reader see or feel any real weariness or despair despite the weariness and despair that Kimberly must feel going to school all day and then going straight to the factory to work, sometimes until 2a in the morning, and then coming home to an apartment with no heat in the dead of winter. There are no descriptions of bags under her eyes, or even of her falling asleep at her desk or on the subway. The fact that her mother doesn’t pass her naturalization test which in turn means Kimberly will not automatically become a naturalized citizen is only briefly mentioned. There is nothing said about how great their disappointment must be.

On a positive note, Kwok does use her own experience working in a clothing factory to add authenticity to these parts of the story showing that the sweatshop conditions have not changed much from the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory; only the immigrants are just a different ethnic group now. But this and the great cover of the book are not enough to save this book from being anything but mediocre and forgettable.

[headinherbooks_27 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I almost gave up on this book but I'm glad I didn't because the ending completely convinced me that this was a worth to read. I was saddened by the choices Kimberly had to make in the end. This story reminds me that the path we go through in life reflects on the choices we make beforehand. This was a bittersweet story.

[cubsfan3410 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! The writing style held my attention, the story was fantastic and interesting. Kimberly is a wonderful heroine.

[rdra1962 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such an amazing story, this is fiction, but seems to be based loosely in fact, has been compared to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and I agree.

[soubhikiewiet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I "read" this via audiobook, and I really enjoyed it. I didn't know much about sweatshops existing in the States, I still don't know to what degree this is going on today, but this offers a look into that world for two Chinese immigrants. It's easy to see how someone might get stuck in that life, and Kim is a strong and driven main character who has the determination to get out.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story about 11-year-old Kimberly Chang and her “Ma” who came from Hong Kong to Brooklyn in search of a better life.

Kim’s wealthy Aunt Paula paid for their passage to America, and set them up in a roach and rat infested apartment in Brooklyn without heat. Ma went to work in the filthy garment factory owned by Aunt Paula’s husband, where Ma, like the others, was secretly paid by the piece, an illegal practice. Kim soon began helping her mother out after school, along with other children there illegally, who came to help their parents make their work quotas.

In spite of all the challenges, including no knowledge at first of the English language, Kim managed to excel in school, and soon got a full scholarship to a private school. But she kept up her friendship with a girl she met at her first school, Annette Avery, who also changed to the private school, and a boy she got to know in the factory, Matt Wu. She didn’t understand her feelings for Matt until they were older, and he started dating someone else: a beautiful Chinese girl named Vivian. But there was always something between them.

Kim decided that to get her and Ma out of their bad situation, she would simply have to work harder and longer than anyone else in school so she could get a good job someday. But she also had to learn to navigate the tricky waters of jealousy from the other kids, and from Aunt Paula. Her aunt not only held their immediate fate in her hands, but she resented that Kim did better than her own similarly-aged son Godfrey.

The very end of the book is an epilogue that begins twelve years after the first part ends, when Kim is in her senior year in high school.

Discussion: There is so much that is good about this book. The story of Kim and her ma is told with such affection and compassion for the characters by the author that you can’t help feeling the same. The other characters are drawn with an excellent eye, such as Kim’s first public school teacher - he is not such a good person, but unfortunately very typical of tired and frustrated teachers in poor public schools. Even the evil Aunt Paula is portrayed in a sufficiently nuanced manner that you understand why she acts the way she does, and you can feel sympathy for her, which is not easily accomplished with a character that nasty.

The author is so clever at helping us understand the threads that connected all the parts of Kim’s life. For example, at the factory, Kim and Ma were paid 1.5 cents per skirt bagged, and Kim started to calculate whether or not they could afford something by how many skirts it cost:

“In those days, the subway was 100 skirts just to get to the factory and back, a package of gum cost 7 skirts, a hot dog was 50 skirts, a new toy could range from 300 to 2,000 skirts.”

The author also rendered dialogue in a manner that showed in italics the words Kim didn’t understand at first, with the sentences gradually having less and less of these italicized words. As one example, when the principal of her public school talked to Kim about getting accepted at the better private school and the need for recommendations:

“‘I know of several good schools, if you should need some names,’ she said. . . . Do you want some recordy shunts?” [meaning recommendations].

We not only see what words Kim still didn’t know, but how they sounded to her. We also learn that often, she does not understand a word or concept because in her previous culture, practices were different. Illustrating this, there are a number of Chinese customs and sayings included in the story, all explained by our narrator Kim.

What was most interesting to me was that the biggest cultural conflict in the book is not between the Chinese and non-Chinese, but between two of the main Chinese protagonists, one of whom believes in the "old ways" and the other who is looking to the future.

Evaluation: I hope readers will not eschew reading this book because of reluctance to read about another culture they think may not be relevant to their own experiences. This book is first and foremost about the human condition and human emotions which we all share - love, hope, despair, jealousy, determination, and perseverance. The story is engaging and engrossing, and the experiences so seemingly true-to-life that I wasn’t too surprised to learn that a good bit of it was autobiographical.

[booksandmunches · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Honestly, this is one of those books that I would've never read if it wasn't for the Popsugar Reading Challenge. I started reading it with an open mind and once again, it's one of the books I'm glad to have discovered and read.

When I bought this book, the cover was immediate proof that I would never have picked it out myself. It's very simple and, when feeling it, the book feels as if it's made out of recycled paper. Feels old, but is new. In a strange way, I kind of liked that.

After I read the synopsis, I assumed that Girl in Translation would contain a lot of character development and I was immediately intrigued by how two people would survive in a foreign country, which a culture and language completely different from their own.

After a slow start - slow, but not "I have to fight to keep on reading"-slow - I soon completely crawled inside the book and took in everything it had to offer.

The writing itself had one unique component that I absolutely loved and by which you notice how the main character, Kim, is learning English. You'll see exactly what I mean in the next two quotes:

"Our new student, eye-prezoom?"

"This is a pop quick," he said. "Fill in allde captal see T's."
Another interesting and - to me - fun aspect of Joan Kwok's writing style is that she uses Chinese sayings, literally translated into English, and then explains what the actual meaning is. Of course I had to include a Chinese saying that has to do with rice, cause... Come on! They're still Chinese...

"Hey, someone has to find the rice right?" To earn the money.

"He's got a human heart too." She meant he had compassion and depth.
Because of all the details that are given in the book, you'd imagine it'd get boring after a while. But this wasn't the case at all. On the contrary. All the information you get, all the little details, make sure you experience Girl in Translation as more than just a bystander.
This book really got to me in terms of feeling how Kimberly and her mother experience all difficulties that come with their immigration. Not only that, but also the way they are treated by both strangers and family members.

All in all, Girl in Translation is a very confronting book when it comes to themes as poverty, immigration, acceptance and humanity. It also made me realize how much we really take for granted, while others - who have it so much worse - appreciate the things we don't even realize are worth being grateful for.

We all fight for what we want; we are all pressured by the standards of society and have a hard time living up to those. Yet... Imagine trying to achieve them while you have absolutely nothing to aid you in that fight. Nothing, except for your own being, your own willpower and wisdom. When you really have to fight to have even a fraction of what "normal" people have?

"I too would be expected to become attractive and well-rounded."
If you want to read about someone who fights to achieve exactly that - a "normal" life that is acceptable according to our society - you have to pick up this book and start reading.

Yes. It will be confronting. It will make you think about the things you have and take for granted. It will make you pause and reflect on friendships and how sincere they must be to really contribute something to life. Your gratitude for everything and everyone in your life will increase. So I'm saying this is a must read.

Because of the slowish start, I'm giving this book a 4,5/5 and the final message to you guys that you should add this to your TBR!

[For more reviews, check out my blog!]

[haymaai · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

‘Girl In Translation,’ by Jean Kwok, is about a twelve-year-old immigrant girl, Kimberly Chang, and her mother who emigrates from Hong Kong to the United States. By day, the mother must work twelve hour plus days in the clothing factory where she is paid by the number of skirts that she sews. To fulfill her mother’s quota, Kimberly must help out at the factory after school. Because Kimberly is a math and science whiz, she wins a scholarship to a prestigious private school, and she soon learns to weave between the expectations of two very different worlds. She attends school with wealthy, more privileged students during the day, and then she transforms to a factory worker after school, returning home at night to a freezing, roach infested apartment, pervaded with rodents. But Kimberly is determined to better her life and the life of her mother, and she pursues her dreams, even in face of grave adversities. In reading this story, I was shocked by the living conditions that were described in this novel, and I was surprised that Jean Kwok had experienced first-hand living in poverty and working in a New York sweatshop as a child. Although the Horatio Alger great American work ethic did come to fruition for Kimberly, I also wonder what the chances might be for ordinary people, who possess less than exceptional intelligence, to rise out of the mire of poverty. This novel certainly gave me opportunity to consider the lives of immigrants, in how they might be used as a necessary workforce for cheap labor, and how our system may continually be abusing these poverty-stricken workers.

[likeitorlumpit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was good at conveying an immigrant experience. However, the last chapter seemed like it was written by a different author and was very amateurish and awkward. Since I liked most of the book I gave it four stars.

[thewanderingjew_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Girl In Translation, Jean Kwok, author; Grace Wey, narrator.
Ah-Kim (Kimberly) Chang left China with her mother and came to America when she was 11 years old. Assisted by her ma’s elder sister, Aunt Paula, they moved into an apartment and went to work in a clothing factory, both of which she managed. The apartment was substandard, and the factory operated illegally with underage employees and unsafe conditions. The supposed kindness motivating the elder sister to help them was highly questionable as she subjected them to unfair working conditions and an apartment without heat, that was bug and rodent infested. They were immediately given a false address and told to lie and use it to enroll Kim in a middle school that was not in their district, but that the aunt said was a better school for her to attend. In actuality, the aunt was protecting herself because of the illegal activities of her business dealings. The aunt and uncle operated outside the law, unwittingly aided by the people working for them who were desperate for their jobs and unaware of their legal rights. Kim and her mother were indebted to the elder sister because they had to repay the money that purchased their papers and their air fare, with interest, and now they also had their rent to pay her, as well. They worked long hours for low wages and were thwarted in their efforts to succeed by the aunt who was jealous for many reasons, jealous of her little sister’s ability to survive and land on her feet in life and jealous of her niece’s success in school, which was greater than her own son’s abilities.
Although I felt certain that school would be difficult for Kimberly and any other immigrant who was unable to speak much English, I found it hard to understand why the school officials and teachers would have been so unkind to her. I was a teacher and although there were some bad apples, overall, teachers were kind to the students, even if some were not trained properly or of the proper mind set to help them. In this book, it felt like there was a general condemnation of the teacher’s behavior toward Ah-Kim. Of course, as in most schools, there were some students who were bullies exercising their muscle to maintain their position of power in the school. However, many of us, regardless of our color, culture, country or religion, have suffered “the slings and arrows” of the troublemakers, in our own schools, as we grew up.
The idea that Kimberly so quickly rose to the top of her class intellectually, and even socially, to some degree, without language skills and in spite of some early failures and peer problems, was admirable, but I found the portrayal of her as such a perfect person, succeeding in every way, a bit disturbing, especially when the “American” children of all stripes were portrayed as selfish, greedy, rude, without ambition, and lacking in intellect. They were involved in disrespectful behavior at home and outside the home, stealing, doing drugs and engaging in underage sexual exploits while their parents looked the other way, preoccupied with their own selfish and greedy needs. They were essentially bringing themselves up without values while Kim was influenced greatly by her mother and her excellent cultural values.
Kim and her mother were portrayed as respectful, honest, obedient, loyal and intelligent, head and shoulders above their American counterparts until Kim was corrupted by them and began also to experiment with drugs, lie, and engage in underage sex which eventually got her into trouble, altering the course of her life, a bit. Still, in spite of all the difficulties she faced, like somewhat of a “supergirl”, she dealt with disasters and turned them into bounties and was still able to obtain a free education at Yale and then go on to become a doctor and surgeon. All of this time, she and her mother were supposed to be living from hand to mouth, barely making ends meet.
I began to feel that I was reading a book that was a bit like a fairy tale, although I felt certain that there was truth in the presentation of the difficulty of being an immigrant in a new country with new ways and a new language. This book painted the Asian culture superior to its American counterpart. Kim, in her “goodness” was able to rise above all adversity, above all the obstacles placed in her path, some put there by herself and some by others. I was left wondering why she alone was singled out for success by the school and not any others, although she was the one that could not communicate well. Somehow they were able to discover, from her test scores, taken in a language she was not fully versed in, that she was of superior intellect and would succeed if given the opportunity. It made me wonder if there were others passed over that might not have had the same success, given the same advantages, not necessarily characters in the book, but rather, in real life.
Still, even when kindness and generosity was shown, there seemed to be resentment toward her which I could not fathom. Her only friend was an unusual looking girl with a talent for action and activism. The book began to feel a bit one-sided in order to paint the immigrant experience in such a way that the immigrant was shown in a very positive light without flaws that mattered, while the Americans were flawed indeed, in character, except for the American school friend, Annette, who was painted as flawed, different and a bit spoiled, depicted as well off although she attended this school in a disadvantaged area and was the only white girl there, although there were two white boys as well. Ah-Kim was the only one of Chinese descent.
The description of Kim seemed subtly designed to malign the other students for their laziness, lack of intellect and general poor behavior, while she was more deserving, worked harder and appreciated all she had, which was, in fact, almost nothing. So, while the story was engaging, it seemed a bit of a fantasy, that seemed true in some parts, but not so in others.
To be more authentic, the author used phonetic expressions and spellings to portray Ah-Kim’s effort to communicate in a world she didn’t know how to navigate. I found it distracting to hear words like Min-hat-ton as opposed to Manhattan and anthn instead of anything, and directions like go downda hall and firsdur left, and expressions like “our new student, eye presume”, and “what’s your exchus?”. I soon became accustomed to the terms like Liberty Goddess, for the Statue of Liberty, head pains for headache or big leg for rudeness, but they, too, felt distracting, especially in the audio. Perhaps a print book is necessary because there were whole sentences, at times, that sounded like gobbledygook to me because of the mispronunciations without context.
I questioned the reality and ability of a child of 11, newly arrived from China, not speaking much English, while living in an apartment that was bug and rodent infested, unheated, sparsely furnished and without any amenities, while attending school not in her own neighborhood, and taking the subway to a clothing factory so she could work long hours alongside her mother, to study and succeed as well as Kimberly did, but kudos to the immigrant that has that kind of drive and success against all odds.
The novel describes the world from the eyes of Kimberly, as she goes from her childhood to her adulthood as a surgeon. Too much of the book was heavily detailed about her experiences in school, work and romance, with too little attention paid to her development as a doctor, later on.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A semi-autobiographical novel of a young girl’s journey from Hong Kong to New York with her mother, and their pursuit of the American dream.

Eleven-year-old Ah-Kim Chang and her mother arrive in Brooklyn in late autumn from Hong Kong. They’ve been sponsored by her mother’s older sister, Aunt Paula, and her husband, Uncle Bob. The original promise is a job for Kimberly’s mother as a nanny to Paula’s two boys, Nelson and Godfrey, and living in the family’s house on Staten Island. But after a week Aunt Paula says that she really needs her sister to help out at the factory, and moves them to an inexpensive apartment in a building owned by her father-in-law. The apartment is lacking windows in the rear, is without any heat, and infested with roaches, mice and rats. Paula does, at least, give them an alternate address to use so that, she explains, Kimberly can attend a better school (but really so that Paula can control their mail and authorities won’t know they are living in an uninhabitable and condemned building). Ma’s job at the factory is piece work and she quickly discovers that the only way to make deadline is for Kim to come to the factory after school and help. Sometimes they do not finish until after midnight. But Kim and her mother pursue their dream – they know that the key is a good education for Kim and she puts all her energy into this.

I was completely caught up in this story at the outset. Kwok uses “phonetic” spellings to highlight Kim’s difficulties with immersion English and how she had to struggle to understand the most basic instructions from her teacher. This was effective at first, but I got tired of it over time. The same was true with her use of Chinese sayings and then “translating” them for the American reader. For Example “Aunt Paula … said, ‘Your hearts have no roots.’ She meant we were ungrateful.”

My main complaint is my disappointment with the last third of the book, especially the epilogue. I was quite engaged in the tale and was telling friends about it and then …. Well, it seems that Kwok ran out of story and the plot descended into a sort of romantic chick lit soap opera. The ending was rather abrupt, followed by an epilogue that one very serious flaw – the time span didn’t add up. Still, I think it was a good effort for a debut novel. I was pulled into the story and interested in the characters. I liked the way Kimberly matured and the strong relationship between mother and daughter.

[idiotgirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Audible. I wanted to like this book more than I did. Story of girl from Hong Kong growing into new life in America. Liked the early sections. Especially liked the attempt to capture the difficulties of understanding with phonetics. This was especially interesting in an out-loud reading of the book. But ultimately the characters were too black and white. Or sentimental. And the love story was overwrought. And she was just too smart and successful. I kept thinking of the word "slight" to describe the book. I didn't want that word to arrive in my mind. I wanted more.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A straightforward but very enjoyable account of the trials and tribulations of immigration, with a particular emphasis on the language barrier. Kim and her mother arrive from Hong Kong with hardly a word of English, though Kim is gifted in science and maths. The story of how she gradually learns the language and makes a life for herself despite extreme poverty and the exploitation she and her mother are subjected to within the black economy is an eye-opener. The tribulations of adolescence and the difficulties she has with her friends (not wanting to go to their houses in case they expect a return invitation etc) are relevant in other walks of life too, but the book made me wonder - in particular - about sweatshops, and whether they are confined to the developing world or not.

[shiraloo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm into immigration stories these days. This is a good one, of a Chinese immigrant to New York trying to make something of herself. I just wish it had a happier ending :-(

[lizhd-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A memorable novel, beautifully told, Girl in Translation is the coming of age story of Kimberly Chang who, at the age of 11, arrives in New York with her mother. Mrs. Chang, a widow, is fearful of the handover of Hong Kong from British to communist Chinese authorities scheduled to occur in 1997 and immigrates to the United States believing she will be able to give her daughter a better life. Narrated from a child's point of view, the harrowing situation in which Kim finds herself unfolds vividly and prosaically, to wit: living in an unheated apartment in an otherwise abandoned building, working in a sweatshop in Chinatown, and attempting to learn in a classroom with a clueless, cynical teacher. Jean Kwok has a marvelous ear, periodically dropping into the dialogue the English words Kim thinks are being spoken, occasionally to hilarious effect. The conversations with Chinese peers and between mother and daughter have a unique but not stilted rhythm and are frequently "translated" so that the reader can appreciate the nuances of the Cantonese idioms. Framed as a flashback, the book's final chapters seem a bit hurried and abrupt, but this is on the whole a minor quibble.

[dukedukegoose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Highly, highly, highly recommended. A wonderful main character, no easy answers, but inspiring and wonderful all the same.

[varwenea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book about immigrants, the 11 year old Kimberly Chung moves to Brooklyn from Hong Kong with her mom, sponsored by her mom’s elder sister, Aunt Paula. Language barriers, financial struggles, school/life acclimations and young love are all the normal topics du jour. Tricked to live in abandoned housing by Aunt Paula, Kim and ma worked endless hours at the clothing factory that Aunt Paula owns, repaying the debt of ma’s tuberculosis treatment costs in HK, the immigration fees (both with interest!), and rent plus utilities for the unlivable housing. Paid at per piece wage (an illegal practice) of $0.015 to bag skirts, their life seems doomed, and Kim was determined to help her family with her one tool – her brains.

I really wanted to like this book more – be touched by it and especially to relate to it. (I was a nearly 9.5 year old immigrant to SF from HK.) There are definitely the heart-tucking moments, the relatable events, with a few “I don’t need to be reminded of this” cringes. Being able to translate the Cantonese terms, such as heart stem, into the exact Chinese characters was a bonus. But it lost me along the way.

The Good:
- I LOVED the way Ms. Kwok used misspelled or incorrect words to denote the vocabulary that Kim didn’t know. That was exactly how I heard sentences, with gaps and/or incorrect fillers guessing at the meaning hoping I’m answering correctly.
- Kim excelled in math and sciences while failing vocabulary heavy classes such as social studies. I stumped a teacher or two with my A’s and C’s/D’s/F’s between the two categories of classes. The evil Mr. Bogart gave me some laughs/cringes too.
- It is very accurate that the child (or the eldest of the children) becomes pseudo adult upon arriving in the U.S. They learn English faster, and they acclimate faster than the parents. I forged every single parental signature that I can remember from 5th grade onwards.
- Needless to say the cultural divide is a transition that requires compromises between Kim and ma and some creative lying on Kim’s part. Been there, done that.

The Bad: Many of these books have a common error where they take everything to the extremes of all possible situations. (Amy Tan’s “Kitchen God’s Wife” is guilty of this too.) This book has these moments too.
- Living in crammed dilapidated housing is pretty common; living in condemned housing with broken windows and no heat is not. (I certainly have seen more cockroaches than I ever want to see for the rest of my life.)
- Working in clothing factory and being paid at per piece are both fairly common. Having the workers’ children also work is kind of iffy since space is a luxury. The flow of untrained labor hungry for a few dollars doesn’t necessitate the need for child labor. They tend to get underfoot and is problematic for efficiency.
- Kim’s super intellect gives the novel its main plot, but it makes her less real too.
- The twist near the end which I won’t reveal was a bit of “let’s throw the kitchen sink at it also”. Argh.

Maybe I’m too close to the subject at hand. I wonder if this would be a better book if Kimberly Chung is a bit more ‘normal’ smart, which makes her more relatable, and the story more realistic. In the end, I’m glad I read it. It reminded me that my childhood could have been worse, and I could have struggled even more.

Some Quotes:

On homework – argh, I remember these. I was also lucky, surrounded by immigrants. Teachers were more aware of our limitations. (The most difficult was college when I couldn’t afford lab materials.)
“It seemed Mr. Bogart went out of his way to choose assignments that were practically impossible for me, although now I think that he was simply thoughtless: write a page describing your bedroom and the emotional significance of objects in it (as if I had my own room filled with treasured toys); make a poster about a book you’ve read (with what materials?); make a collage about the Reagan administration using pictures from old magazines (Ma bought a Chinese newspaper only once in a while.) I did my best but he didn’t understand. Half-hearted attempt, he wrote. Incomplete. Careless. A pictorial collage should not by definition include Chinese text.”

On unhappiness:
“Our living conditions didn’t change but with time, I stopped allowing myself to be conscious of my own unhappiness.”
And:
“What Annette didn’t understand was that silence could be a great protector. I couldn’t afford to cry when there was no escape. Talking about my problems would only illuminate the lines of my unhappiness in the cold light of day, showing me, as well as her, the things I had been able to bear only because they had been half hidden in the shadows. I couldn’t expose myself like that, not even for her.”

On abstract art:
“Because when something is not realistic, it becomes a container for whatever you want it to be. Like a word or a symbol or a vase. You can pour anything you want into it.”

On a broken heart:
“When she saw us, she seemed heartbroken, her grief so complete that it left no room for anger. I thought, I never want to love someone like that, not even Matt, so much that there would be no room left for myself, so much that I wouldn’t be able to survive if he left me.”

[shouldireadit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The heart wrenching story of Kimberly Chan, a young girl who moves to Brooklyn, N.Y. from Hong Kong with her mother when she was just 11 yrs. old. She recounts her story of learning English and trying to do well in school, all while slaving away in a sweatshop with her mother and living in a condemned, rat and roach infested apartment with no heat. As the years pass, readers cannot help but be moved by her bravery, determination and strength to rise above her circumstances. With the heaviness of trying to live when a world wants to tear you down, joy, hope and new life are breathed by Kimberly every day and, hopefully, into the reader to think well upon the poor immigrant experiences of the 21st century.

[abbeyhar · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This guy is more of a 3.5 star rating. I liked it much more than I thought I would, actually. Read it for my book club this month, and this is an example of why I love book club so much - I read many books that I wouldn't otherwise be interested in - and end up enjoying them. This would be a great book for a middle school or early high school english class to read.

[fefferbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kwok's voice is so strong, and Kimberly shines through so authentically. It's hard not to feel all her emotions--they're distilled and piercing. It seems clear that at least some embryo of Kimberly's experience must belong to Kwok, and that's why it all seems so powerful, but I'd hate to discount Kwok's obvious talent. The adult characters, most especially Kimberly's mother, are multilayered and so complex as to be difficult. This novel was excellent.

[bibliophileofalls · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book, but felt it was just OK overall. The main character had too many character conflicts to be truly believable. I good first novel, but needs more depth and believability.

[thoughtsofjoylibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jean Kwok states on her website, "Although Girl in Translation is a work of fiction and not a memoir, the world in which it takes place is real." Despite those words, the book reads like a memoir - it truly does. Kimberly's coming-of-age story mainly focuses between the ages of 12 and 18, and Kwok's writing style transported me into Kimberly's world with ease. It was very engaging. I would have never have guessed that it was a debut novel.

I saw glimmers of Betty Smith's, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Lisa See's books - both authors' work in which I have enjoyed. I'm definitely adding Jean Kwok to my "Waiting for More" list of authors.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy

[loveatfirstbook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I did totally fall in love this week with Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. OMG, I picked this book up in the morning and did not put it down until I finished it (which luckily was before I had to meet friends out at a bar, or I would have had to be late to finish the book).

Kimberly is a Chinese girl who came to America with her mother, on her Aunt Paula’s dime. Aunt Paula is sooooo “generous” by giving them a disgusting place to live and forcing Kim and Mom to work in her textile factory, practically slave labor (and illegal).

Luckily, Kimberly is very smart and that will take her far. Unless certain circumstances, like her aunt and relationships with boys, get in her way.

I loved Girl in Translation. Highly highly recommend!

Thanks for reading,

Rebecca @ Love at First Book

[heike6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This novel read like a memoir. I learned a few things about Chinese immigrant culture. It kept me hooked, but I wasn't a fan of the ending.

[cather00 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this book on CD in my car and it was one of those audiobooks that made me wish there was more traffic. The reader is fantastic, and I had to check the description on the back of the case to make sure it wasn't a memoir. The reader almost had me convinced me she was Kimberly Chang.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What begins as the experiences of Chinese immigrants and their struggles with language, culture, and work in New York turns into a love story about teenaged girl who can't make up her mind about the guy she loves. The first third is good, then it is less so. I did like the exploration of Chinese idioms.