Revolution is not a dinner party

This book was very inspiring with the amount of courage and bravery that a young girl and her family exhibit during a cultural revolution in China.  I enjoyed this book very much and I liked how well things were going for this family during the first part of the book.  I thought they had it all since Ling’s parents had respected professions in the medical field.  Of course I knew things were going to go wrong as soon as Comrade Li had to move in with them and Ling’s parents seemed to be on pins and needles.  I find it interesting that Comrade Li was very friendly to the family at first and he even made origami for Ling, but as soon as her family didn’t exactly follow protocol in worshipping Chairman Mao, things turned sour.  I did admire some of the family dynamics within Ling’s family.  She was very close with her father and part of the reason why I enjoyed this book was because Ling and her father had a great relationship and it reminded me of the relationship between me and my dad.  Ling thought of her father as a man who could do no wrong and he was very smart and respectable.  But then there was the relationship between Ling and her mother which tended to be quite sour at times.  Her mother never seemed to be pleased or impressed with her and was always nagging her about how to do things the proper way.  I think although Ling found this to be annoying, her mother was just trying to make her a decent young lady for society.  You can tell that family and respect for your elders was a very important cultural aspect in China.  It was very hard for me to keep reading the story when conditions got bad for their family and others in China.  It’s hard to think of how followers of Chairman Mao could treat people with such hate if they didn’t share the exact same beliefs.  It was very heartbreaking when Ling’s father was taken away from their family because I couldn’t even imagine my father being taken away and not knowing what has happened to him.  But Ling remained extremely brave throughout this novel by not backing down to bullies in her school and not giving into the Chairman Mao followers.  I didn’t know much about the Cultural Revolution in China before I read this book and I wouldn’t have guessed that such horrible conditions existed during this time.  It’s very eye opening to read about how their food was rationed and their electricity was shut off all because Chairman Mao was trying to build a “better China.”  I also couldn’t imagine having to tip toe around every word I said and every action I made because it could be construed as being anti-revolutionary.  It’s as if these people are in their own personal jail just by living in China.  I could definitely understand their reasons for migration to another country such as the United States because all they want is freedom and for their families to live in peace.