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A review by historynerd04
Chinese Girl in the Ghetto by Ying Ma
1.0
I received a free copy of this book through a Good Reads First Read giveaway. Thank you.
Oh, boy. Where do I even start?
Let me preface this review by saying that I am not an immigrant and you can best sum up my life experience as that of lower-middle to middle class. I've always lived in fairly safe neighborhoods and went to academically decent, if not out right good, schools.
Having said that, I am the granddaughter of an immigrant - like so many of us in this country are - so a lot of what the author conveyed in this book was familiar enough to me as far as the immigrant experience goes. That's the background I brought to the table while reading this book. And, perhaps because of said life experience, I found myself becoming more and more fed up with what I perceived as an overly indignant and self-righteous tone with which the author presented her story. My first thought when shutting the back cover was "I think the title of this book would be better served as 'Chinese Girl with a Chip on Her Shoulder'".
I'm not denying nor turning a blind eye to the violence and decay that is endemic in inner cities all across this country. It exists. We are in dire straits, to be sure, but unlike so many other helpless victims of their situation (in this case, the ghetto), the author not only got herself out but her family, too. The vitriol that bubbled up about her experience in the ghetto smacked, to me, almost as reverse racism. No one was immune. She had issues with everyone from her fellow African American and Latino students to her Caucasian teachers. No one was spared her wrath. And yet, she did very little to do anything about it. There were only 3 instances where she directly stood up for herself, and that was only after releasing a stream of racist remarks that only perpetuate hatred, violence, and an ignorance of culture. The old saying of "fight fire with fire" might be applicable here - I honestly do not know - but, as already stated, it only perpetuates a vicious, vicious cycle.
Likewise, her life in China felt like it was being glorified. Only briefly did she touch on the violations that China incurred against not only its citizens, but those in places such as Tibet. No place is perfect, not even the US, but the lack of balancing an almost demonizing characterization of her adopted country and not giving equal time to the severe failings of China smacked of out and out propaganda to me.
There are far better books out there about the immigrant experience. I recommend any of those before attempting to tackle this one. I hope this was simply a case of an incompatible book and reader.
Oh, boy. Where do I even start?
Let me preface this review by saying that I am not an immigrant and you can best sum up my life experience as that of lower-middle to middle class. I've always lived in fairly safe neighborhoods and went to academically decent, if not out right good, schools.
Having said that, I am the granddaughter of an immigrant - like so many of us in this country are - so a lot of what the author conveyed in this book was familiar enough to me as far as the immigrant experience goes. That's the background I brought to the table while reading this book. And, perhaps because of said life experience, I found myself becoming more and more fed up with what I perceived as an overly indignant and self-righteous tone with which the author presented her story. My first thought when shutting the back cover was "I think the title of this book would be better served as 'Chinese Girl with a Chip on Her Shoulder'".
I'm not denying nor turning a blind eye to the violence and decay that is endemic in inner cities all across this country. It exists. We are in dire straits, to be sure, but unlike so many other helpless victims of their situation (in this case, the ghetto), the author not only got herself out but her family, too. The vitriol that bubbled up about her experience in the ghetto smacked, to me, almost as reverse racism. No one was immune. She had issues with everyone from her fellow African American and Latino students to her Caucasian teachers. No one was spared her wrath. And yet, she did very little to do anything about it. There were only 3 instances where she directly stood up for herself, and that was only after releasing a stream of racist remarks that only perpetuate hatred, violence, and an ignorance of culture. The old saying of "fight fire with fire" might be applicable here - I honestly do not know - but, as already stated, it only perpetuates a vicious, vicious cycle.
Likewise, her life in China felt like it was being glorified. Only briefly did she touch on the violations that China incurred against not only its citizens, but those in places such as Tibet. No place is perfect, not even the US, but the lack of balancing an almost demonizing characterization of her adopted country and not giving equal time to the severe failings of China smacked of out and out propaganda to me.
There are far better books out there about the immigrant experience. I recommend any of those before attempting to tackle this one. I hope this was simply a case of an incompatible book and reader.