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Red Scarf Girl (rack): A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution | 
| Author: Ji-li Jiang
Publisher: HarperTeen
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $4.18
You Save: $3.81 (48%)
New (34) Used (9) from $4.18
Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 19072
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 3.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 0061667714
Dewey Decimal Number: 951.056
EAN: 9780061667718
ASIN: 0061667714
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
It's 1966, and twelve-year-old Ji-li Jiang has everything a girl could want: brains, tons of friends, and a bright future in Communist China. But it's also the year that China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launches the Cultural Revolution—and Ji-li's world begins to fall apart. Over the next few years, people who were once her friends and neighbors turn on her and her family, forcing them to live in constant terror of arrest. When Ji-li's father is finally imprisoned, she faces the most difficult dilemma of her life. This is the true story of one girl's determination to hold her family together during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 102 more reviews...
 Red Scarf Girl October 20, 2008
The book "Red Scarf Girl" is an in-depth, moving memoir about a twelve year-old girl named Ji-li who was living her life to the fullest until the Cultural Revolution. "...I felt like the luckiest girl in the world" (17) Ji-li says. Then one day, China's leader, Chairman Mao, launched the Revolution, and Ji-li's life is flipped upside-down. Student inspectors begin to harass people who are wearing old fashions in public, and Ji-li and her friends are bullied in school because of their families and their routines. Ji-li and her classmates even have to write hurtful propaganda on posters, or da-zi-bao, about their teachers. Though Ji-li did nothing wrong, a da-zi-bao was pasted near a store about her relationship with her teacher. She was also cornered by the Red Successors; a group of elementary students who were training to become Red Guards. Red Guards were high schoolers and adults who rebelled against the old ways. After Ji-li's graduation, things turn for the worse; the Red Guards inspect houses to search for things that related to the "old ways", and leave houses torn apart and destroyed. People commit suicide, are beaten, jailed, and executed. People even revolted against their own families because they're status was "black". This book is a page turner, and with one event of insanity after another, it's hard not to ponder about the outcome, as well as see when all of it is going to end.
Classics for homeschoolers August 31, 2008
C. Brockman
This book fits nicely in our homeschooling reading program. It is a wonderful addition to our classics collection.
 Red Scarf Girl June 13, 2008
Cynthia Hudson (Portland, OR)
A compelling memoir from a girl growing up during the Chinese cultural revolution. Filled with patriotic fervor for the Chinese communist government, Ji-li is at first ashamed to be part of her family, which is persecuted because of her grandfather's political beliefs. But as she sees injustices heaped onto the heads of many people around her, she gradually becomes disillusioned and no longer believes government propaganda. Ji-li's authentic voice inspires discussion about family loyalties, government betrayals, and China's history.
This is a great book to read with children. I read it aloud to my daughter, who could not believe that this life happened to this girl and so many like her in China. It prompted lots of discussion about families and government. Even kids as young as 10 or 11 should be able to appreciate the story, and it's fascinating for adults too.
Red is Dead March 14, 2008
June Bug (Planet Earth)
I read this book quite a few books ago. What I remember was that it was very compelling. The author is forced to serve the "People" and endures many hardships while working in an Army production camp. Her description reminds one of Siberian memoirs on not such a grand scale, rather a Chinese adaptation.
The author begins by demonstrating her arrogance through stories of her childhood prior to service in the camp, she was selfish and cruel.
She excels as a patriot, and is promoted as a leader within her work group, she doesn't prove to have much compassion for others. Her colors most vividly show in one particular scene; when two people are discovered as lovers meeting in secret (male/female relationships are forbidden), with horrible consequences a result. The author eagerly participated in their punishment, only to suffer deep regret later. However, this experience, the enduring exhaustion of the camp, and lack of personal freedoms brings about a metamorphosis.
She realizes that there is no humanity in Communism, no true accomplishment in which one can truly take pride; her disillusionment brings about her own self-discoveries in the end making her a better person.
I found the narrative honest, in no sense was did it come across as embroidered to make it more compelling.
Fantastic! February 28, 2008
Judith K. Naper (Winnetka, IL USA)
This book is about the cultural revolution. Through her own difficult hard times, the author tells the story of her and her family from the age of 12-14. This book is great for children and adults. It really tells what happened to family's during the cultural revolution
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