The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman

Chan Jan Wai lost his wife when she gave birth to their only surviving child, a daughter named Jade Moon. Jade Moon was born during the Year of the Fire Horse - a bad omen for her family. Girls born during such a year were said to be dangerous, bringing tragedy to their families and Jade did just that, for her mother died giving birth to her.

Now seventeen years old, Jade lives with her father and grandfather and their servant, Nushi,  in the small village of Jinjiu on their family's ancestral lands. Because she was born in the year of the Fire Horse Jade has been told that she is cursed, that she brings bad luck to everyone she meets by her strong will. As a result, she has a reputation for being wild and headstrong. She cannot be what others want her to be - quiet, soft spoken and agreeable. Instead, she is outspoken and challenging. Jade finds her life in China like a prison with no future and a fiery reputation that she seems to live up to. Jade's father had intended to marry off Jade but no one will marry a Fire Horse girl.

Jade's future is about to change though, when a stranger, Sterling Promise, arrives in Jinjiu, claiming to be the adopted son of her father's brother, Chan Jan Keung - an uncle she did not know. Sterling has come to convince Jade's father to travel with him to America to start a business. When Jade learns of Sterling's plans to travel to America, she is resentful because she knows she will never be allowed such an opportunity.  Jade dreams of a life bigger than that found in her village. She believes that living in America would present her with the chance to finally be who she truly is without the judgement of others.

At first Chan Jan Wai is reluctant to accompany Sterling, but he changes his mind and also announces that Jade will travel with them to America. They travel to Hong Kong to board a ship that will take them to America. But first they meet Master Yue, for whom Sterling worked when he was younger. This is when Jade learns about Sterling's past and begins to distrust his motives for traveling to America.

When Jade, her father and Sterling board the steamer to take them to America, Jade is sent to bunk with Mrs. Ying and several other women passengers. Mrs. Ying tells Jade about America and how the Chinese are poorly treated there and how Americans do not want the Chinese in their country. She also warns Jade to learn what plans her Father has for her as most Chinese women who travel to America are either married off or forced into prostitution.

Jade learns from Sterling Promise that she must study and learn her "story" in order to get into America. After the 1906 fire in San Francisco, the list of American citizens was lost. The list needed to be remade so when the Chinese were asked if they were born in America, they all answered yes, meaning even those not born in America became American citizens since there was no way to disprove their claims. When they were asked if they had children, the Chinese increased the number of children they had in their families saying that some sons were born in America but sent back to China. These sons became known as "paper sons" because the American Chinese sell their identities to those back in China trying to come to America. They do not exist except on paper. This is how Jade's uncle was able to go to America for Mr. Yue.

Jade also discovers that her father plans to marry her off to Sterling Promise. When the three reach America, they are sent to Angel Island, an immigration station to process immigrants from Asia. Jade is separated from her father and Sterling and eventually interviewed. When Jade and her father are refused entry, but Sterling is allowed to do so, Jade uncovers the terrible truth about what the two men had planned for her.

Jade's father had no intention of staying in America and deliberately thwarted their entry by giving incorrect information to immigration officers. The plan was to have Jade marry Sterling Promise in America and return to China with her father. She was brought to America to ensure that this would happen - that Sterling would keep his promise and that Jade would actually marry him. To get her back to China, the father would have suggested they return for a visit and then Jade would not have been allowed to return to America. She would have provided a son so that the Chan family line could continue. However since Jade and her father must now return to China, things must change. Jade's father tells Sterling Promise that he expects him to return to China in a year to marry Jade.

When Sterling and Jade discuss their future, Jade tells Sterling that she only wishes to be allowed into America. She refuses his offer of marriage and furious that he has abandoned her and her father, devises a brilliant plan to escape from Angel Island. Stealing Sterling's immigration papers and disguising herself as a young man, Jade makes it to San Francisco only to be caught up in a war between two tongs (criminal organizations) who are fighting for control of Chinatown. She is taken in by the leader of one of the tongs, Mr. Hon and is trained to be a fighter. Hon runs many gambling houses but is looking to expand his business into prostitution. As tensions escalate, Jade must use all of  her characteristic wit and fiery determination as a Fire Horse to save herself, a friend and possibly many others too.

Discussion

The Fire Horse is a wonderful novel about a young woman's struggle to find her identity, to accept who she is and to have others accept her as well. This struggle is set against the backdrop of China and America in the early 20th century. China is a place where tradition and family duty still take precedence in contrast to America where new ways quickly replace tradition. In China, Jade cannot be true to herself, and she hopes that in America it will be different. However, once in America, circumstances quickly force Jade to outwardly change who she is in order to survive while staying true to her Fire Horse qualities. This is the reverse of what her existence in China was;outwardly she was Jade Moon but inside she had to pretend to be someone else. This double identity is reflected in the cover of the novel which gives readers hint of what is to happen in the novel.

Woven into all of this is the background historical setting of life in Chinatown in San Francisco in 1923. The Chinese immigrants have not integrated into American society but have their own area of the city and it is rife with gambling and the trafficking of women for prostitution. Making this setting more believable is the inclusion of the character Miss Donaldson, who is a stand in for the real life Miss Donaldina Cameron, an activist who helped trafficked Asian women. 

Born in New Zealand, Miss Cameron was a devout Presbyterian who ran the Occidental Mission Home in San Francisco, providing a safe place for Chinese women who were trafficked and abused. She had a reputation for being very kind and courageous, often breaking into brothels to rescue young women.

The author accurately portrays how difficult it was for Chinese immigrants to come to America during this time. As a result of deeply rooted racial prejudice, they were not welcome in the country and it took weeks, even years to be processed at Angel Island, often leading them to commit suicide. They were grilled over the most minute details, in contrast to white European immigrants who were processed on the other side of the continent, at Ellis Island, in a matter of hours.

Honeyman does an excellent job of developing her characters. Jade Moon is a terrific protagonist, strong, full of life, and fiery. She grows throughout the novel, coming to believe in herself, recognizing and accepting her weaknesses and her strengths. Sterling Promise helps Jade in her journey, while also developing himself. He comes to see Jade's temperament not as a curse, but as a gift that has helped him learn about himself.

With its upbeat conclusion and unusual subject, The Fire Horse Girl is an intriguing, well written novel that will appeal to many historical fiction fans.

Book Details:
The Fire Horse Girl by Kay Honeyman
Arthur A. Levine Books: An imprint of Scholastic Books    2013
321 pp.

Bitter Melon by Cara Chow

Frances "Fei Ting" Ching lives with her mother Gracie, in a small, one bedroom apartment in San Francisco.

After choosing the pens and notebooks Frances will use for school, her mother makes them stop at the Clement Street bank were most of the tellers are Chinese. There France's mom's favourite teller, Minnie is put forth as someone Frances should aspire to be like: she is modest,  has perfect Cantonese and is a student who is working.

In the bank vault, Frances is shocked to see that her mother has a large selection of Chinese jewelry. She shows Frances two bracelets she wore when she was a baby to remind her of her heritage. There is also a jade bracelet that Frances wore on her right wrist when she was six. But whenever the bracelet came against another surface it made a knocking sound, that angered her mother. Frances was told to be careful because if she broke it her mother would make her eat it. And so in school, afraid that her teacher would tell her mother if the bracelet was damaged, Frances began writing with her left hand. The bracelet brings back painful memories as Frances remembers her mother hitting her for using her left hand, and painfully working the bracelet off without concern for Frances.

However, Frances's mother shows her many other pieces of jewelry. She opens more velvet pouches, "...revealing saltwater and freshwater pearl necklaces, more twenty-four-karat gold necklaces and bracelets, gold and jade pendants, and two giant gold bangles with the double happiness character  and the dragon and pheonix, the symbols of marriage." Gracie tells Frances that she is not some haggard woman but that if her father Gong Gong hadn't left her mother (Popo) and Frances's rich father hadn't abandoned them they would be very wealthy. It is this injustice that has made her bitter. She is determined to change their lives by working hard and she makes it clear that Frances too must sacrifice , work hard and improve her grades.

Frances took the SAT last year and obtained a mark of 1050 while Theresa got 1350. This puts her at a disadvantage applying to universities. Frances's mother tells her she must ace physics and calculus, pass the AP physics and calculus exams and get a score of 1200 on the SAT! She tells Francies that she knows that life is fragile and so they must help each other to survive. Her plan is for Frances to attend Berkely, to get straight A's so she can attend medical school, become a doctor, make lots of money, buy them a nice house and quit her job and maybe even cure her. To achieve this she tells Frances, "No distractions. No sports or other after-school activities. No socializing or running around with boys." Gracie insists that this will be their "pact".

Frances attends St. Elizabeth's, a private, elite Catholic school along with Theresa Fong. On the first day of school, Frances and Theresa are in what Frances believes is their fourth period calculus class, although she's puzzled as to why Theresa is in the class. The teacher is a savvy young woman named Ms. Taylor. As each student states their goals for the year, Frances states that she wants to attend UC Berkeley and get into medicine but Theresa says that she doesn't really know. Ms. Taylor finds this to be very courageous, telling Theresa that this is normal, "You're at a time in your lives of figuring out who you are. 'I don't know' is a good place to start. Theresa here demonstrated honesty and courage in her response." 

However, Frances soon realizes that she is not in calculus but in speech class. Ms. Taylor makes Frances feel excited and special, something Frances cannot envision happening in calculus class. When she checks her schedule, Frances discovers that she has not been enrolled in calculus but in speech instead. The idea that language is powerful and that it can define a person and be used to persuade and influence is very appealing to Frances. 

Frances and Theresa haven't really gotten along well over the years. The two girls are very different. Theresa has a "willowy frame" while Frances is "heavyset". Theresa has thick, long, black hair while Frances's hair is brown black and thin. Frances is tall at five foot four, but Theresa is petite. Frances has good social skills but Theresa is very smart. Their mothers hold up the other as an example of success which has served to alienate the two girls. However after their first speech class, Theresa helps Frances clean her skirt and Frances makes Theresa feel better about her response to Ms. Taylor's question.

At lunch the two girls reconnect and Frances reveals that she didn't sign up for speech but was put in the class by mistake. When Frances states that she will have to go to Ms. Costello and get placed back into caclulus, Theresa makes the offhand suggestion that she could stay in speech and not tell her mother. However, Theresa encourages Frances to go fill out an appointment slip for Ms. Costello which she does but then doesn't hand in. 

Although she intends to correct the scheduling mistake, Frances cannot quite make herself do this. She loves speech, it is empowering and she seems to have an aptitude for it. As the deadline for course changes passes, Frances realizes she has in fact, made the decision to stay in the class. Frances knows that her mother will be furious and never accept her having taken speech over calculus, so she enlists best friend Theresa to help her keep speech class a secret from her mother.

Ms. Taylor encourages both Theresa and Frances to join the speech team, which means they will have to compete in speech tournaments. Around the same time, Frances begins attending a Princeton Review class in preparation for the SAT. The course is held at the prestigious and expensive St. Augustine's, a co-ed Catholic high school. The first few classes Frances sits next to a blonde boy named Collins. Back at St. Elizabeth's, Ms. Taylor tells Frances that her oratory speech is "one of the most beautiful speeches I've ever read." She has Frances sign up for the speech team but their practices are after school, conflicting with the Princeton Review class. Reluctantly, Frances agrees.

Theresa encourages Frances to compete and offers to help Frances study for the SAT by teaching her since she finds the SAT easy. On the drive home from practice with Ms. Taylor she questions Frances about her future plans, about doing volunteer work at a hospital or doctor's office and suggests that she apply to all the UC colleges. She tells Frances that going away from home is a chance to discover who she is and that her mother supported and encouraged her in this. She attended Scripps where she found a smaller community of friends who supported her. Frances finds this shocking. But after an earthquake strikes San Francisco as Ms. Taylor is driving her home, Frances decides that the speech competition will be her last. 

However, the one morning when her mother criticizes her attempt to clean their apartment of the broken dishes, Frances realizes that her mother is lying and using words to manipulate her. She comes to a decision. "I envision myself at a fork in the road. One prong leads to Berkeley, then med school, then residency, then working and living with my mother for the rest of my life. The other road leads to speech, the Scripps, then...I can't see the rest. I can only see my arms spreading, like wings taking flight." Frances decides that regardless of the cost, she must follow through with her plans to do speech. She hopes that through the power of language she can reclaim her life and her future. But little does Frances know, she will need all the determination and courage she can muster to outwit her controlling mother. 

Discussion

Cara Chow has written a poignant novel about a young girl's struggle to live her life on her own terms and to be true to herself. Bitter Melon is one of numerous books written about Asian teens struggling to cope with manipulative mothers. In light of the recent publication of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, it seems to be an attempt by Asian women to confront the problem of mothers (and fathers) who push their children to the absolute limit using almost any means possible to attain academic success and ultimately, status.

 

High school senior, Frances Fei Ting Ching lives with her mother Gracie Ching. Gracie and her mother were abandoned by her father and after moving to America, Gracie was also abandoned by her husband. Because of these abandonments, Gracie has become a bitter woman. Every hardship that comes into her life feeds this bitterness so that it is now making her ill. She suffers from acute stomach pain that leaves her doubled over. Frances notes how the pain from her bitterness has affected her mother physically. "Her back looks twisted and hunched over, as if chewed up and spat out by the hardness of life."

While showing Frances the beautiful jewelry in the safety deposit box, Gracie tells her that they would be very rich if not for being abandoned. Her bitterness oozes out like a poison, " 'I deserve better because I work hard and I am good,' Mom says. 'You deserve better because you are my daughter. I hate God for abandoning us, for letting life be so unfair. They all make me sick, sick!' "  Frances astutely observes, "...all the bad people in our family making her sick, the injustice eating away at the lining of her stomach so that no drug can cure her."   Gracie views every single difficulty in life through a lens poisoned with bitterness. Seeing cracks in the walls of their apartment after the earthquake Gracie doesn't count their blessings of still having a home but states "Its a mockery of my efforts. That's how cruel nature can be." 

Gracie has a plan that will ensure Frances will never leave her. It involves lies, manipulation and emotional blackmail and it involves words. It is this motive that guides Gracie Ching's every action concerning her daughter and has been going on for years. Frances remembers her mother's words at the zoo when she was twelve:  "They nurse their young for only a year or two...the babies grow up and the mothers abandon them, and that's that. But a human mother never turns her back on her baby. The baby eats up her mother's food and money for the next twenty years. But even then, their relationship doesn't die. Then mother and child switch roles, and the child cares for her mother." 

Against this backdrop a situation develops at school that will change Frances's life forever: Frances is mistakenly enrolled in speech instead of calculus.In speech class she is exposed to another adult, Ms. Taylor, who explains the power of words. Ms. Taylor's tells the class,  "Language gives us the ability not only to talk about the present but to reflect on the past and to plan for the future... Because of human language and human imagination, we can create and recreate our identities and our cultures. Language is power...We as women have the power to define ourselves and persuade others to change the ideas of our society and to pass that down for generations to come. "   

This idea invigorates Frances and with the help of her friend Theresa, she stays in the class. It takes some time but eventually Frances comes to realize that her mother is using language to manipulate her preception of herself and her reality. The words France's mother uses to describe her are never uplifting but are designed to put her down and control her perception of herself, make her smaller, and bitter: lazy, stupid, thoughtless, fat, disgusting, pathetic. Once Frances comes to this realization, she decides to fight back to gain her freedom from her mother. What follows is a battle of wills.

In Ms. Taylor, Frances finds a mentor and more importantly a counter to her mother. The words Ms. Taylor uses, although they may be the same as what Frances's mother use, have different meaning. For example when Ms. Taylor asks Frances why she hasn't signed up for the speech team, Frances thinks, "Usually, questions asked by adults are accusations disguised as questions, such as 'Why are you so lazy and forgetful?' " But she realizes that Ms. Taylor really does want to know. There is no hidden agenda or accusation, lies or manipulation. And when Ms. Taylor tells Frances it would be "a waste of talent" she focuses on the word waste. "I tense up at the word waste. When my mom uses it, it means I've done something bad and I'd better do things the opposite way."   Ms. Taylor is the exact opposite of Frances's mother, she is acting in Frances's best interests helping Frances to consider her options and think for herself and about what she wants for herself. She acts as a "corrective lens" though which Frances can view herself and her world. Frances's mother begins to understand the effect that Ms. Taylor is having on her daughter, and that she might be a real danger to her plans for Frances. Gracie attempts to manipulate Frances perception of Ms. Taylor by telling her Ms. Taylor is misleading and using her.

Through Ms Taylor, Frances is introduced to some ideas that she has not been previously exposed to. For example, the idea of unconditional love is brand new to her. Just before their participation in the Chinese American Association speech contest, Ms. Taylor tells her and Theresa that their mothers will love them regardless of how they place. "That's the first time I've ever heard the idea of unconditional love outside the context of religion....the idea that real live parents could be unconditionally loving is completely foreign. Often Mom and other Chinese parents say 'dai sek'. 'Dai sek describes children who are polite or affectionate, who excel in school, who serve their parents before themselves at banquets, or who send money back home. How can anyone be loved not for what they do but for who they are? Isn't who you are defined by what you do?"

Of course, this is not Frances's experience of love at all. It seems she is only loved if she achieves, and more importantly, if she achieves what her mother considers important. The other person who helps her understand this is Derek Collins, a fellow speech competitor. Despite being humiliated by her mother in front of Derek, he still wants to date her. Like Frances, he too is experiencing the weight of parental expectations, so he understands some of Frances's situation. 

Frances's battle to gain control of her future is reflected in the evolution of her speech throughout her senior year. Initially her speech upholds her mother, focusing on the sacrifices she has made and Frances's determination to attain what are really her mother's goals for her. "My mother's persevance and hart work are an example to me....After I graduate from high school, I hope to attend UC Berkeley...Afterwards, I plan to attend medical school and become a doctor...My medical knowledge will improve her health...My future income will support her, so that she won't have to work and suffer any more...I remember that my hardship can't be half as hard as my mother's and that some day...when my hard work pays off so will hers..."

As Frances begins to change her plans, she makes minor edits to her speech. After applying to Scripps, the speech is edited to "My mother's perseverance and hard work are an example to me...After I graduate from high school, I hope to attend a top university..."  However, after discovering her Scripps acceptance and scholarships in the kitchen garbage and sending in her acceptance, Frances begins to realize that her speech no longer reflects her reality. "A wave of nausea passes through me. After everything I've been through with my mother, none of this rings true to me anymore. To speak it, to argue it, to win with it would be a lie."  And so Frances rewrites her speech to reflect what she now understands. She begins by stating how speech has helped her. "Then I started to speak. I saw the effect I had on people who listened. Over time, I also saw the effect my mother had on me when she spoke. The former made me feel bigger, whereas the latter made me feel smaller.I realized then that Ms Taylor was right, that words are more powerful than things precisely because they are abstract. Words are invisible wings, medicine for the soul. They can also be an invisible sword, spiritual mustard gas.They can also be used as a cloaking device.In fairy stories witches use words to cast spells. I saw that this wasn't just make-believe. It was happening in the real world every day."  The analogies are very accurate: What does mustard gas do? It blinds you. Frances's speech lays out the expectations for her life because of her mother's sacrifices. "But this sacrifice does not come for free. I am expected to get straight As, so I can get into UC Berkeley. I am expected to go on to medical school or journalism school. Afterwards, I am expected to embark on a successful career, so that my future income will support her and she won't  have to work and suffer anymore." She is now clearly aware that these are her mother's expectations and not hers. After explaining the Confucious values that her mother holds where children obey parents, Frances explains her dilemma. "On paper the Confucian way looks good...But it has one fatal flaw.It assumes that the authority figures are always just. What if that assumption is wrong? What if their judgements are wrong? What if their expectations are unrealistic or unfair? What if they are selfish or dishonest?" 

If this is the situation in a family then Frances states that the choice can be a difficult one.  'It's like choosing whether to cut off one's right hand or one's left hand. It is like having to decide whether to save your drowning mother, knowing that you may both drown, or swimming to shore alone, knowing that you can only save yourself. If that is your dilemma, which way is right? Which way would you choose?'  Frances doesn't win the state competition because, as Derek tells her, the judges were waiting for an answer. At this point, Frances, doesn't have the answer but she soon discovers it. Ultimately, Frances must confront her mother, in what turns out to be the novel's climax, as Gracie makes a last ditch and almost successful attempt to thwart Frances's plan to attend Scripps and move away from home. 

The title of the book, Bitter Melon originates from a part in the book where Frances and her mother are eating a bitter melon during dinner. Frances does not want to eat the melon but her mother tells her, "If you eat bitterness all the time, you will get use to it. Then you will like it."  Frances describes the melon whose bitterness "...no sweetness can dull" and that "...it lingers on the tongue, tainting everything else you eat." This is a metaphor for Gracie's words which are bitter and are never dulled by her "saccharine" smiles. The melon is eaten with the mouth and words also involve the mouth. Gracie is telling Frances, that like the melon, she will get used to her bitter words and even grow to like them. But like the bitter melon, Gracie's words linger long after, tainting everything in Frances's world.

Although this book might seem a little over the top in terms of some of the actions of Frances's mother, it is probably realistic in terms of what some children in certain cultures experience. However, it is not exclusive to Asian cultures. Parents from all backgrounds can place enormous pressures on their children to achieve in areas they may not be interested in or even have an aptitude for. One thinks of a child pushed to go into engineering or medicine with a limited ability in mathematics. However, the recent focus on Asian children and their parents suggests that young Asian writers have a message for their parents and all parents; allow children the freedom to choose their own path. Parents should focus on directing their young adults, not on controlling them or selecting their career.  

Book Details:
Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
New York: Egmont, USA    2011
309 pp. 

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation is a story about a young Chinese girl and her mother who come to the United States in the hope of making a better life for themselves. Eleven year old Kimberly Chang and her mother are brought to American by Kimberly's Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob. Although promised to be taken care of, they are taken advantage of and abused by Paula who is jealous and angry at her younger sister, Kimberly's mother. They are given an apartment in a vermin-filled, abandoned building without heat. Kimberly and her mother are forced to work in Aunt Paula's Chinatown garment factory in order to pay off their debt to her for the cost of their airfare and Ma's medical treatment.

Although Kimberly's Ma is resigned to her fate of grinding poverty and hardship, Kimberly recognizes that she has it within herself to better her life. She knows she was a top student in China and that this will be the key to a new life in America. But Kimberly soon finds herself leading a double life: one that hides the terrible hardship of their lives while trying to appear as normal as possible at school. She is a brilliant student during the school day but hides the fact that after school she works long hours in a sweatshop and lives in terrible poverty without proper clothing or food. Kimberly also has difficulty in adapting to a culture she doesn't understand. In order to hide her life from her peers, she allows no one to get close to her. The only exception is Annette who befriends her and throughout middle and high school respects Kimberly's need for distance. In the end, as the girls mature, Annette proves to be a true friend to Kimberly.

Like all young girls her age though, Kimberly must deal with the pressures of growing up. From the first time she works in the garment factory, Kimberly likes Matt Wu, a young sweatshop worker who is her age. But Matt is different from Kimberly. He is not as ambitious and he is content with what he has in life. Their friendship gradually develops into complicated love at a time when they are starting to drift apart. Matt becomes involved with another Chinese immigrant whose views on life are more similar to his. Kimberly struggles to cope with her feelings of a first love tainted by jealousy. When something very unplanned happens between Kimberly and Matt, something that threatens to destroy her chances to achieve her dreams, she must make a difficult choice. This choice will affect both her and Matt forever.

This novel is wonderful. Kimberly is a realistic character and her plight is so desperate that it is impossible not to develop a deep sympathy for her. As a reader, we see her grow from a frightened, disoriented 11 year old to a responsible, strong teen who is capable of making good decisions. Along the way she struggles with her developing love for Matt and his attraction to another girl, Vivian who is more suited to him. Kimberly must also navigate the social minefield of high school as well as her aunt's growing jealousy of Kimberly's academic achievements.

The jacket cover for Girl in Translation states "In time, Kim learns to tanslate not just her language but herself back and forth between the two worlds she straddles." And that she does in a most remarkable way.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read Jean Kwok's next offering. She is a fresh new YA author who holds great promise.

Book Details:
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Riverhead Books (Penguin) 2010
293 pp.