Beautiful Country

Qian Julie Wang wrote a memoir about her childhood called Beautiful Country. Qian was born in China. Both of her parents were professors at a university. They lived a comfortable life surrounded by a loving extended family. Her father did not like how the Chinese government restricted free speech so in 1992 he left China for New York City. In 1994 Qian and her mother joined him. Her father had a job in a laundromat. Her mother found work sewing clothes. Qian's mother would bring Qian to work and the seven year old had a job cutting the loose threads out of the inside of shirts earning a penny for each shirt she completed. They had lodgings but had to share a kitchen and a bathroom with other families. They had food but not enough. When Qian went to school, she did not speak English. Later, in 5th grade, she has mastered English. She turns in a paper to her teacher and he accuses her of plagiarism because the paper was too well written for a girl like her to write. After that she includes mistakes in grammar or spelling on purpose for this teacher. On top of all the deprivation the Wang family worried about being deported because they were undocumented. Qian's parents handled all this stress by turning on each other and having loud arguments. I enjoyed reading her memoir because she is a strong person, a great writer, and a success story.