Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah

Read for: Leisure
Rating: 4.5

Chinese Cinderella is the memoir of author Adeline Yen Mah, who grew up in China during WWII. She is the youngest of four children and, unfortunately for her, her mother died from childbirth complications therefore crowning Adeline with the honor of being the unwanted daughter because she is considered to be bad luck. Her father remarries a beautiful Eurasian woman, who treats her stepchildren cruelly, especially Adeline. To try to impress her father, Adeline works very hard in school and consistently achieves top marks in all of her classes. He remains unimpressed until she wins an international writing contest when she is a teenager.

This story is deeply moving, and the fact that it is true makes it all the more compelling. Yen Mah has a simple writing style, but her words are nevertheless cutting and to the point. It is clear that she has poured her heart into writing her story. I think that this would be a useful and poignant book to use in the classroom, especially as it would add exposure to different authors, cultures, and genres to the reading list.