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  • Untitled

"Chinese Cinderella" by Adeline Yen Mah

12/4/2012

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Title: Chinese Cinderella
Author: Adeline Yen Mah
Genre: Autobiography
Number of pages: 197
Date Published: 1999
Rating (out of 5 stars): 2
Recommended: No

Set in 1940s China, Chinese Cinderella is author Adeline Yen Mah’s memoir of her difficult childhood as an unwanted daughter. After her mother dies giving birth to her, Adeline’s family considers her bad luck and detests her presence. With only a disempowered aunt and an elderly grandfather to lean on, Adeline endures the seemingly endless torment of her siblings and nasty stepmother. Taking place over the course of eleven years, Chinese Cinderella employs many well-chosen anecdotes that give the reader a sense of what life was like for the young Adeline. Never invited on outings, forbidden from visiting friends’ houses or bringing friends home, and consistently told that she will never amount to anything, Adeline Yen Mah’s story is surely one that will break your heart. Turning to academics for asylum, Adeline teaches readers what it means to be strong and to persevere.

Although Chinese Cinderella is an uplifting story about a young girl succeeding against all odds, it still did not wow me. I found the dialogue to be unrealistic and even a bit silly at times. At the beginning of the novel, when the children were only about six-years-old, the dialogue seemed too mature and analytical for such young characters. The conversations between them became too much like a summary of the book, as if the characters were trying to explain to the readers what was going on in the story. I cannot see a person talking in such a high-level descriptive manner in real life, which is a huge problem. The language disconnect does not allow the reader to relate to the characters or see them as anything aside from mere words in a book.

It did not take me long to read Chinese Cinderella, not because I was so enthralled that I couldn’t put it down, but because it is so short. At only 197 pages, with a lot of white space and family photos in the middle, Chinese Cinderella is not much of a time commitment. Although this novel is placed in the young-adult category, I would only recommend it to pre-teens. This novel has important messages of determination and work ethic, and is interesting because it gives the often told Cinderella story a new twist, but the writing style and actual content of the novel were boring and even a bit annoying. So unless you are 12-years-old and love the fairytale of Cinderella, don’t bother with this book.

Review by Brittany Duncan, A&S '16

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"Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball" by R.A. Dickey

9/1/2012

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Title: Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball
Author: R.A. Dickey
Genre: Sports Autobiography
Number of pages: 332
Year published: 2012
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

As one of the only pitchers in Major League Baseball this season to be in the top 5 in strikeouts, wins, earned run average, and quality starts, there is no better time to pick up R.A. Dickey’s autobiography. Dickey delves deeper into his past and reveals more about his inner struggles than I ever thought possible, especially considering the New York Met’s immense success in 2012. Dickey chronicles his life beginning with his troubled and scarred past, through his rocky baseball career, all the way up to complete confidence and forgiveness. Wherever I Wind Up presents baseball fans and non-supporters alike with a person who bears his soul and is truly trying to better himself. 

I chose to read this book solely because I am a sports fan and I’ve had R.A. Dickey on my fantasy baseball team for a few years now.  Since he has emerged as my best player, and is having his best season ever, I figured I would give the book a chance. It was nothing like I expected, however, and I’m glad for that. Dickey, being an English major and avid writer, makes the book easy and fun to read and explains his life and baseball in so much detail that it leaves you feeling like you know him personally. 

Because Dickey is a knuckleballer, his path to the big leagues was unlike any other player. Throughout the book you see his constant change and development not only as a baseball player, but as a person as well.  The only downside I can say at this point is that his career really is a rollercoaster ride. Every time things seem to be going well another poorly-timed, heartbreaking event occurs. It becomes semi-repetitive, but it is his true story so you can’t bag on the guy for telling the truth. And he tells ALL of it.

Wherever I Wind Up also has a religious tone to it. Dickey never pushes his beliefs on the reader, but does constantly reinforce his Christian faith and how he was able to save himself by giving himself up to God. It is certainly not forced, and Dickey gives honest accounts of his faith or lack there-of.

I recommend Dickey’s book to anyone, but especially sports fans and those who love baseball. It is an easy, fun read and I got tons of insider baseball information. I am a very slow reader but the book only took me about a month and a half to finish. It keeps your attention and is broken up into short, detailed stories for ease of flow. Dickey truly does bear his soul in this book, and as much as I wish it contained some of his thoughts from the 2012 season (the greatest year of his career), it is certainly interesting to see how he made it to where he is today. R.A. is an easy guy to root for and I look forward to cheering on his future success!

Review by Steven Nicholas, A&S '13


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