Chinese Girl in the Ghetto

By: Ying Ma

Narrated by: Ying Ma

As China opens itself to the world and undertakes historic economic reforms, a little girl in the southern city of Guangzhou immerses herself in a world of fantasy and foreign influences while grappling with the mundane vagaries of Communist rule. She happily immigrates to Oakland, California, expecting her new life to be far better in all ways than life in China. Instead, she discovers crumbling schools, unsafe streets, and racist people. In the land of the free, she comes of age amid the dysfunction of a city's brokenness and learns to hate in the shadows of urban decay. This is the unforgettable story of her journey from China to an American ghetto and how she prevailed.

"Direct and unvarnished, this book describes the endless possibilities of a free society that allows its citizens to chart their own destiny. Ying Ma takes her readers to dark corners where poverty, crime, and racism reign, all the while reminding us that even amid a sea of hate, individuals can choose to believe in kindness, decency, personal responsibility, and racial equality." (Ward Connerly, Founder and President, American Civil Rights Institute, and author, Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences)

"A beautiful account of a young girl's encounter with the insidiousness of authoritarianism in China and the tragedies of inner-city America. Ying Ma boldly details some of the worst imperfections of American society, all the while showing, with her own example, why freedom is worth choosing." (Xiao Qiang, Adjunct Professor, University of California at Berkeley, and Founder and Editor-in-Chief, China Digital Times)

©2011 Ying Ma (P)2018 Ying Ma

Enthralling

Beautiful writing and storytelling. The book felt factual, detailed, and vulnerable all at the same time. So interesting from start to finish. 100% recommend especially with today’s political narrative.

How Latinos discriminated her I was ashamed as Puerto Rican and lived around Asians I admire them especially Chinese

Great read I will wait to see when she writes again and I will follow her very bluntly written books

I Can Only Hope I'd Be As Resilient

Kudos for pushing through the racism and fear of growing up in Oakland, California every day of her life. And becoming successful beyond belief and getting her parents out also. Great listen

Compelling story- equally good narration

I went through her whole book in two listenings. And, it was hard to turn off the first listening. A child on the verge of a move to our country is full of excitement. She doesn’t know what to expect other than it will be a big upgrade to what her life has been in China. Instead, she and her family are cast into a culture that is cruel and pitiless. Because she doesn’t know English and because she doesn’t want to burden her parents with the brutal realities of her new life, she is rendered mute.
But, she has also brought with her from China, a set of values, a keen sense of justice, and a resolute character. The strength of these qualities seem remarkable in a nine or ten year old child. From them proceeds her tale of overcoming.
Even though she is not responsible for any of the conditions of her new life in Oakland, much of the story reads like a confessional - as if she is in part to blame. For example, when she witnesses Chinese adults being humiliated by taunts or physical assaults from the neighborhood’s black kids, she, in her child’s mind is guilty for not doing something about it.
Her narrative style is a very simple and straight forward reporting of events that works effectively to put us behind the eyes of a child.
She made the right choice in narrating the story herself. She has a great voice and her reading pace is perfect.
My single criticism is that she might have tried to intuit, interpret, or analyze the motives of her tormenters. Doing that would have made it an even richer story.

the truth is often powerful and painful

the truth is often powerful and painful just as this story was. could not stop listening