Reviews: (by author)

Adeline Yen Mah. Chinese Cinderella. NY: Delacorte, 1999. 205 pages hardcover. $16.95. ISBN 0385327072.

This book was written with the best of intentions. I know, because the author tells the readers so in the preface. She hopes that, by telling the story of her life as an unhappy and unwanted child, she will help other such children realize that there is hope for their lives to improve, that they are far from worthless.

Unfortunately, this book never rises far above this bald statement of good intentions. As an actual story, as narrative, the book is not as involving as it needs to be to accomplish its laudable purpose. Characters are flat, the language uninteresting (except for the Chinese inflections), the story repetitive, the main character reactive rather than active. The result is that the reader is dragged through the same helpless, miserable childhood that the writer states she had. For a book that shows a little girl who fights back against people who try to force her into an unhappy life, I recommend the much stronger narrative of Ties that Bind, Ties that Break in our Historical Fiction section.

Recommended reading level: Age 11-14

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

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