Jean Kwok

From the bestselling author of "Girl in Translation," a novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing. Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York's Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (America-born Chinese), Charlie's entire world has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works--miserably--as a dishwasher. But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie's natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed--something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds--Eastern and Western, old world and new--to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity.

Escrito con una voz inolvidable, esta novela describe las experiencias de una niña inmigrante que crece entre dos mundos, rodeada por una lengua y una cultura que solo puede entender a medias. Con once años, Ah-Kim se traslada a Nueva York con su madre desde Hong Kong. Allí, cambia su nombre por Kimberly y aprende a lidiar con un mundo que no entiende, entre la escuela donde se esfuerza por ser una alumna brillante, y la fábrica textil donde trabaja por las tardes junto a su madre y otros inmigrantes. En algún momento de este frágil equilibrio, Kimberly encuentra el amor.

De elfjarige Kimberly Chang en haar moeder verhuizen van Hongkong naar New York. Daar wonen ze noodgedwongen in een morsig, onverwarmd appartement in Brooklyn. Op school is Kim een buitenstaander doordat ze nauwelijks Engels spreekt. Na schooltijd moet ze haar moeder helpen bij haar werk in een sweatshop, waar ze de knappe Matt ontmoet. Ondanks alle tegenslagen blijkt Kim een getalenteerde leerling, en ze slaagt erin een beurs te krijgen voor een vooraanstaande particuliere school. Kim overwint vele obstakels en vecht voor een beter leven, maar net als alles waarvoor ze heeft gewerkt binnen bereik is, raakt ze zwanger van haar jeugdliefde Matt.

Introducing a fresh, exciting Chinese-American voice, an inspiring debut about an immigrant girl forced to choose between two worlds and two futures.When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life-like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition-Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.Through Kimberly's story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about. Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant-a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.

Tras la muerte de su padre, Kim Chank deja Honk Kong con once años para trasladarse junto a su madre a Nueva York. Ahí tendrá que integrarse a una lengua y cultura nuevas, donde sus expectativas chocan frontalmente con la realidad. Al iniciar la escuela en esta ciudad tan apasionante como hostil, le cuesta mucho seguir las clases porque apenas conoce el idioma. Acostumbrada a ser una brillante estudiante, empieza a faltar al colegio. Por si fuera poco, el piso donde les ha tocado vivir es un lugar insalubre lleno de cucarachas y sin calefaccion, y por las tardes tiene que trabajar en el mismo taller de confeccion que su madre, donde sus tios las explotan sin miramientos. En la fabrica conoce a Matt, un chico que no tardara en convertirse en un fiel amigo y por quien sentira un creciente amor, que tendra que ocultar. En medio de dos mundos que no se tocan, Kim aprendera a saltar de un lado al otro del abismo para poder sobrevivir y evitar asi el duro destino que les ha tocado vivir a ella y a su madre.

Tras la muerte de su padre, Kim Chank deja Honk Kong con once años para trasladarse junto a su madre a Nueva York. Ahí tendrá que integrarse a una lengua y cultura nuevas, donde sus expectativas chocan frontalmente con la realidad. Al iniciar la escuela en esta ciudad tan apasionante como hostil, le cuesta mucho seguir las clases porque apenas conoce el idioma. Acostumbrada a ser una brillante estudiante, empieza a faltar al colegio. Por si fuera poco, el piso donde les ha tocado vivir es un lugar insalubre lleno de cucarachas y sin calefaccion, y por las tardes tiene que trabajar en el mismo taller de confeccion que su madre, donde sus tios las explotan sin miramientos. En la fabrica conoce a Matt, un chico que no tardara en convertirse en un fiel amigo y por quien sentira un creciente amor, que tendra que ocultar. En medio de dos mundos que no se tocan, Kim aprendera a saltar de un lado al otro del abismo para poder sobrevivir y evitar asi el duro destino que les ha tocado vivir a ella y a su madre.

From the bestselling author of "Girl in Translation," an inspiring novel about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into a more Western world. Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Wong grew up in New York s Chinatown, the older daughter of a Beijing ballerina and a noodle maker. Though an ABC (American-born Chinese), Charlie s entire life has been limited to this small area. Now grown, she lives in the same tiny apartment with her widower father and her eleven-year-old sister, and works miserably as a dishwasher. But when she lands a job as a receptionist at a ballroom dance studio, Charlie gains access to a world she hardly knew existed, and everything she once took to be certain turns upside down. Gradually, at the dance studio, awkward Charlie s natural talents begin to emerge. With them, her perspective, expectations, and sense of self are transformed something she must take great pains to hide from her father and his suspicion of all things Western. As Charlie blossoms, though, her sister becomes chronically ill. As Pa insists on treating his ailing child exclusively with Eastern practices to no avail, Charlie is forced to try to reconcile her two selves and her two worlds Eastern and Western, old world and new to rescue her little sister without sacrificing her newfound confidence and identity."

New York Times bestseller Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok is a powerful story about a Chinese immigrant family in Brooklyn. Kimberley Chang and her mother move from Hong Kong to New York. A new life awaits them - making a new home in a new country. But all they can afford is a verminous, broken-windowed Brooklyn apartment. The only heating is an unreliable oven. They are deep in debt. And neither one speaks one word of English. Yet there is hope. Eleven-year-old Kim goes to school. And though cut off by an alien language and culture and forced by poverty to work nights in a sweatshop - she finds the classroom challenges liberating. In books and learning she'll be saved. But can Kim successfully turn to lost girl from Hong Kong into a happy American woman? And should she? Jean Kwok's powerful and moving tale of hardship and triumph, of heartbreak and love, speaks of all that gets lost in translation. 'A sensitively handled rites-of-passage account...has the unmistakable ring of authenticity' Metro 'A truly amazing story that'll leave you full of admiration and affection for the characters' Easy Living 'A classic and moving immigration story' Red