Chinese Cinderella - Adeline Yen Mah - $16.95

This is an amazing true story set in South-East China in the mid 1900's.  The author's mother dies and she is brought up largely unloved, despite her family's wealth.  Through the foreign concessions, Japanese rule, Chiang Kai Shek, the Communist Revolution and the family's flight to British Hong Kong, Adeline's hopes plummet, right up to a dramatic happy ending.  The children's version of Falling Leaves, this is a vivid portrayal of the human capacity for meanness, malice and love.  And did you know that the Cinderella story we all know actually was a Chinese story to start with!  Pb Ages 14 - 18 yrs