Awards and Honors2008 ALA Best Book for Young Adults | ALA Notable Book for Older Readers | NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2008, World History and Culture | Book Sense Children’s Picks – Fall 2007 | CCBC Choices 2008, Fiction for Children | Publishers Weekly – Best Children’s Books 2007, Children’s Fiction
China, 1972. Since Comrade Li moved into the house, life has been very different for Ling. She used to laugh and play with her father in the evenings. Now, her parents whisper and worry. Though Ling is taught that Chairman Mao works for her happiness, food is rationed; her father, a skilled surgeon, is ordered to give up doctoring to mop floors and scrub bathrooms at the hospital; and a dear friend has been declared an enemy of the state. This novel about the Cultural Revolution is based on the author's childhood. Author's note.