For the young protagonist of this moving memoir, China s Cultural
Revolution is at first an exciting time: she s fascinated by the furnace
for making steel her family has installed in the courtyard of their home
and cheers with her brother as their father shoots and kills sparrows,
which are supposedly ruining crops. What begins as a period of unbridled
optimism quickly turns into a dangerous and turbulent one, though, as
Moying Li sees her teachers and headmasters beaten in public, her
grandmother denounced, and her father arrested and sent to a labor camp,
his library of books and records confiscated. Despite the ever-presents
risks, Li finds refuge in learning and literature, working off of a list
of banned books her father has sent from the camp. This inspirational
autobiography is ultimately an ode to the power of imagination,
knowledge, and reading."Para la joven protagonista de estas memorias
conmovedoras, la Revolucion Cultural de la China es al comienzo un
tiempo deslumbrador: le fascina el horno de hierro que su familia ha
instalado en el patio de la casa y aplaude con su hermano mientras su
padre dispara y mata gorriones, los cuales supuestamente estan
arruinando la cosecha. Sin embargo, lo que comienza como una epoca de
optimismo desenfrenado se convierte peligroso y turbulento mientras
Moying Li ve como golpean sus maestros y directores en publico,
denuncian a su abuela y se toman preso a su padre, confiscando sus
libros y discos. No obstante los riesgos omnipresentes, Li consigue
refugio en el aprendizaje y la literatura, usando como referencia un
listado de libros prohibidos que su padre le ha mandado desde el campo
de trabajos forzados. Esta autobiografia inspirante es, en fin, una oda
al poder de la imaginacion, el conocimiento y la lectura.""
