by Ji-Li Jiang
In the book Red Scarf Girl, a Chinese girl named Ji-Li is growing up during the Cultural Revolution in China. Chairman Mao, the leader of China, orders everyone to remove any signs of the four olds. Ji-Li has always supported him, so she enthusiastically helps take everything down. One day, everyone finds out that Ji-Li’s grandpa was a landlord so people come to search her home and arrest her dad for no apparent reason.
Later, she is asked to create a presentation about Mao at a big exhibition, and she is thrilled. She works very hard, and nails the rehearsal. But, the government asks for her to testify against her father and she refuses, knowing that even though she believes in the revolution, she can’t lie about her dad. That gets her into big trouble. The guards search her home again, and send her to work in the rice fields. When she gets back home, she has to sweep the streets because the government has found a letter from her mom about how much she hates it.
Thirty years later, Ji-Li is finally happy. She moved to America after her father got released from jail, which was quite a while.
This story was actually a real life story about the author’s childhood during the mid-1960’s. This book was definitely interesting, and very educational. It let me into the life of a girl during the Cultural Revolution, letting me experience it with much detail.
I really liked this book because there were many surprises. I never really knew that much about the Cultural Revolution in China, but now I know a whole lot more. It was a very exciting book to read, and the details were very well described. The author uses many similes, and metaphors that you don’t usually see in other books.