Join us for West Branch's monthly non-fict ion book discussion group. We read a variety of contemporary non-fiction a nd meet once a month for a lively discussion. Contact discussion leader Ja net Stephens at 630-264-3626 for a copy of the book or the list of current chosen titles.
\nJoin us virtually through Zoom or in-person. Conta ct discussion facilitator Janet Stephens at jstephens@aurorapubliclibrary. org for more information or to receive a Zoom link to join us virtually.\n
This first book from Wang takes readers deep into her childhood exp erience of undocumented life in the U.S. At age seven\, she and her mother join her father in New York City in 1994\, seeing him for the first time since he left northern China two years prior. Instantly she understands Ba Ba&rsquo\;s directive to tell anyone who asks that she was born in Mei Gu o\, the Mandarin name for the U.S.\, meaning beautiful country. In contras t to the warm\, family-surrounded life she led in China\, Wang&rsquo\;s ne w existence in Brooklyn is startling in every way\, governed by unrelentin g hunger\; the upsetting work her parents\, who&rsquo\;d both been profess ors back in China\, are forced to do\; the alienation she feels at school when she at first only speaks Mandarin and relies on free meals for surviv al\; and the constant threat of deportation. Now a lawyer\, Wang buried he rself in books for escape. Powerfully reconstructing\, without embellishme nt\, her memories of this shadow existence\, Wang reveals truths about liv ing in constant fear and trauma that will undoubtedly move readers.
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