GIRL IN TRANSLATION

Jean Kwok’s debut tells the story of 7-year-old Kim Chang and her mother, who are leaving successful lives in Hong Kong after Kim’s father has died to come to Brooklyn. Grayce Wey gives Kim a determined voice as she finds herself caught between two worlds: that of abused, disenfranchised immigrants and that of America’s mostly oblivious citizens, who are happy to remain clueless about the struggles that many people face, here and in the rest of the world. Listeners will admire Kim’s resolution to use education to escape indebtedness to Aunt Paula, who financed her emigration; her life in a roach-infested tenement; and what seems like slave labor in a Chinatown sweatshop. The listener comes away with new appreciation for immigrants who fight impossible odds to enrich this melting pot we call the U.S.A. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]