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Chinese Girl in the Ghetto

by Ying Ma (Goodreads Author)

3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 · rating details · 57 ratings · 20 reviews

As China opens itself to the world and undertakes historic economic reforms, a little girl in the southern city of Guangzhou immerses herself in a world of fantasy and foreign influences while grappling with the mundane vagaries of Communist rule. She happily immigrates to Oakland, California, expecting her new life to be far better in all ways than life in China. Instead,...more

Paperback, 174 pages

Published March 18th 2011 by Createspace

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Dec 04, 2012 Tisha rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been lucky...the last few books I've read have been, IMHO, great. This was one of them.

Chinese Girl in the Gettho is a memoir. Ying Ma, until the age of ten, lives in Guangzhou (sp?), the 3rd largest city in China. Typical of China in the early 70's and 80's, poverty is endemic and government control is tight. Ying, her brohter, her mother, her father, her grandfather, her grandmother and two uncles live in a 2 bedroom apartment in the city and are considered to be living in spacious accom...more I've been lucky...the last few books I've read have been, IMHO, great. This was one of them.

Chinese Girl in the Gettho is a memoir. Ying Ma, until the age of ten, lives in Guangzhou (sp?), the 3rd largest city in China. Typical of China in the early 70's and 80's, poverty is endemic and government control is tight. Ying, her brohter, her mother, her father, her grandfather, her grandmother and two uncles live in a 2 bedroom apartment in the city and are considered to be living in spacious accomodations by most of their neighbors. Ying and her family suffer from material wants, but are a close and relatively happy family. A chance comes to emigrate to America and the family jumps at the chance, believing that in America, all their material wants will be met. They settle in Oakland, California in a dangerous and poverty-stricken area. The rest of the story deals with Ying Ma and her family's struggle against racism, discrimination and violence while trying to eke out a living in an inner-city ghetto. She describes in detail her sense of rage, impotence and hatred both for the people around her and the intolerant society she finds herself in. She perseveres, works hard, studies instead of hanging on the street, makes the grades and, ultimately, pulls herself and her family out of the ghetto.

I've read other reviews criticizing Ying Ma for her focus on herself; for failing to mention often enough that discrimination was not (is not?) directed against Asians alone, but against all minorities and even between members of the same race. I actually didn't get the impression that the author was even suggesting the above. Rather, as this IS a memoir, it seemed totally appropriate to me that the focus was on one girl's perception of the world around her and those about whom she cared most.....her family. The book has also been criticized for "rushing through" the years after high school/college and beyond. This, too, seems appropriate to me. As the title details, the book is the recollection of one Asian girl's experience with the ghetto of America. Her life is China is necessary to set the stage for what she ultimately faced when she came to America and, therefore, is appropriate to include in the book. Her life after high school and college was lived outside of the ghetto within suburban America. Therefore, it doesn't take equal focus in the story. I thought the writing was descriptive but succinct, the content was interesting and the pace was well-modulated.

All in all, I recommend this book highly! (less)

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Jul 28, 2012 Kkraemer rated it 4 of 5 stars

The first half of this book is fascinating. The author tells of her years as a child in Ghangzhou, a childhood with clear pathways and a loving family. Because she writes from the perspective of now living in the U.S., she sees some of the material and social constraints of her childhood, of course, but she goes out of her way to note that, as a child, things were simply the way that they were. She wasn't unhappy. She didn't question. She and her family simply lived on very little and she learne...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Teri Frazier rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book was a quick read which emphasized the circumstances and dichotomy of a limited, propaganda-infused, state-run life in Communist China versus the freedom of the "capitalistic" United States of America. The different governments' failed policies, whether through controlling the public via what is allowed to reach the people through the restricted public market of China or through the U.S.'s "war on poverty" and the vast sums of money misspent and wasted producing undesirable and unintende...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Everett rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ying travels to Oakland and she is unfairly treated by her peers often because of her race and because of her academic achievement. According to Ying, she and other Asians in the community are routinely harassed and physically intimidated solely because of race. This mistreatment primarily comes from the local blacks and Hispanics who dominate Oakland. Despite all of this, Ying is able to succeed and become very successful later in life.

While I applaud Ying for her success, especially because o...more Ying travels to Oakland and she is unfairly treated by her peers often because of her race and because of her academic achievement. According to Ying, she and other Asians in the community are routinely harassed and physically intimidated solely because of race. This mistreatment primarily comes from the local blacks and Hispanics who dominate Oakland. Despite all of this, Ying is able to succeed and become very successful later in life.

While I applaud Ying for her success, especially because of the difficult challenges she experienced, I grew tired of the solipsism in this book. I get the distinct impression that Ying felt individually targeted primarily because of her race. What I rarely get from the book is how she was treated measured against how other racial groups treated one another. Were blacks racist towards Hispanics and vice-versa? I'd bet the answer is yes. Did the groups who directed violence towards her and other Asians direct violence towards each other? Again, I bet the answer is yes. Were Chinese sometimes cruel to other Chinese in Oakland? This answer comes directly from her book and once again the answer is yes.

See, the problem with Ying's story is that it doesn't provide context. It only sets out to present facts that reinforce the author's narrative, that Chinese people, specifically in the Bay Area, are being targeted by other racial groups primary because of race. It says nothing about racial strife in the general area. It says nothing about crimes like home invasion robberies that are often committed by Asians on other Asians. It does not take into context that students who do very well in school are often targeted by their peers for their success. It does not take into context that students who are minorities in their schools as well as their communities are more likely to be treated differently. No, it primarily says that Chinese were targeted in Oakland based upon race.

In the end, the redeeming factor in this book was Ying's stories of her perseverance and strong family and how those factors helped her get through a series of extraordinarily difficult circumstances and achieve success.(less)

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May 02, 2011 Marie Stroughter rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the two main sections: the author's life in China; and her life once her family immigrated to the US. Both were vastly different, and that comes across in the narrative. Each comes with its own subset of realities, and the author doesn't hold back.

The book is very short (~174 pages), and could have been longer, I think. It appeared rushed toward the end, and I think a third section could have been added to address some of the loose ends tied up so quickly and to even lengthen th...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Joe Cochran rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first part of the book was the best, regarding childhood and grade school including the high school years that noted the difference between growing up in China vs. arriving in the U.S. and living in the ghetto of LA. The culture, character, and core values are immensly different between the two life styles and geographic areas.

Towards the end, the book picks up speed and rapidly jumps from graduating high school to college, graduate studies, and then a brief mention of her professional caree...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Victoria rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: gratis, wall-thudders

I received a free copy of this book through a Good Reads First Read giveaway. Thank you.

Oh, boy. Where do I even start?

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not an immigrant and you can best sum up my life experience as that of lower-middle to middle class. I've always lived in fairly safe neighborhoods and went to academically decent, if not out right good, schools.

Having said that, I am the granddaughter of an immigrant - like so many of us in this country are - so a lot of what the a...more I received a free copy of this book through a Good Reads First Read giveaway. Thank you.

Oh, boy. Where do I even start?

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not an immigrant and you can best sum up my life experience as that of lower-middle to middle class. I've always lived in fairly safe neighborhoods and went to academically decent, if not out right good, schools.

Having said that, I am the granddaughter of an immigrant - like so many of us in this country are - so a lot of what the author conveyed in this book was familiar enough to me as far as the immigrant experience goes. That's the background I brought to the table while reading this book. And, perhaps because of said life experience, I found myself becoming more and more fed up with what I perceived as an overly indignant and self-righteous tone with which the author presented her story. My first thought when shutting the back cover was "I think the title of this book would be better served as 'Chinese Girl with a Chip on Her Shoulder'".

I'm not denying nor turning a blind eye to the violence and decay that is endemic in inner cities all across this country. It exists. We are in dire straits, to be sure, but unlike so many other helpless victims of their situation (in this case, the ghetto), the author not only got herself out but her family, too. The vitriol that bubbled up about her experience in the ghetto smacked, to me, almost as reverse racism. No one was immune. She had issues with everyone from her fellow African American and Latino students to her Caucasian teachers. No one was spared her wrath. And yet, she did very little to do anything about it. There were only 3 instances where she directly stood up for herself, and that was only after releasing a stream of racist remarks that only perpetuate hatred, violence, and an ignorance of culture. The old saying of "fight fire with fire" might be applicable here - I honestly do not know - but, as already stated, it only perpetuates a vicious, vicious cycle.

Likewise, her life in China felt like it was being glorified. Only briefly did she touch on the violations that China incurred against not only its citizens, but those in places such as Tibet. No place is perfect, not even the US, but the lack of balancing an almost demonizing characterization of her adopted country and not giving equal time to the severe failings of China smacked of out and out propaganda to me.

There are far better books out there about the immigrant experience. I recommend any of those before attempting to tackle this one. I hope this was simply a case of an incompatible book and reader.(less)

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Jun 15, 2012 ☯Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to ☯Emily by: Goodread First Read

Shelves: goodreads-giveaway, memoir

I would give this memoir 3 1/2 stars if available. It was better written than many memoirs, especially in the first half of the book. Ying Ma was born in China and lived there until the fifth grade. Her life seemed to be normal for a child. She went to school and had friends and enjoyed her family. Only certain events marred a wonderful childhood. The author tells about the time the teacher forces all the students to confess their misdeeds and if they couldn't think of anything to report, then t...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Pamela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, china, memoir

Interesting memoir of a girl who's family came to America for a better life, but found the inner city instead. She manages to escape the ghetto through her own determination and the expectations of her family. I am surprised she was able to still see the American dream beyond the violence, poverty and hopelessness that surrounded her family in their early years in America. And one can clearly see why some can't see the dream, much less reach for it and so give up and repeat the cycle of poverty...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Vincent rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an absolutely wonderful book. Those that dont like this book likely think only those minority groups that have effectively become wards of the state through abuse of welfare programs are capable of being discriminated against. It fascinating to see how an immigrant that came here with nothing is able to succeed while groups that rely on intergenerational welfare become intergenerational failures and close minded adherents of discrinimation themslves. This is a must read.

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May 27, 2012 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-finished

I got a copy of this book for free from Goodreads. It had some interesting reminisces, but it mostly reads like some fragmented sketches from the author's life. I think she was trying to make some point about racism, but the narrative was not cohesive enough to support it.

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Jan 17, 2013 Candice Swanson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Living close to Oakland and some of the areas, I can understand her difficulty in transition, but all transition is difficult. I appreciated her ability to put this on paper. It gave me better understanding. I would suggest it for a classroom to read and discuss.

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Feb 21, 2012 Rock Angel marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2010-contemporary, genre-memoir-bio, lib-to-recommend, loc-asia, subj-diaspora, loc-u-ca, format-250pp-less

interview (yet to read):
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/04/15/ch...

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Oct 19, 2011 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

fascinating perspective on determination and environment.

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Oct 11, 2012 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very nicely written memoir. I feel so naive to have not known any of this was going on.

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Dec 22, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, kindle-free-prime, non-fiction, read-in-2012

Super quick read.

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Jan 25, 2013 Denisa Mertiri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Free through Goodreads First Reads

The struggle of a Chinese girl trying to make sense of the senseless violence witnessed in Oakland, as well as the challenges her family undertakes while living in inner city America.
The words read like looking through a mirror into someones else's life, a life that challenges the readers perception of what freedom really means.

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Sep 16, 2012 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, china, immigrant-narrative

I received my copy through Goodreads First Reads. This book looks tragic and unique, and I'm excited to review it. Thanks for the giveaway!

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Feb 15, 2012 Gail Coffelt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At least it was a quick read. It seemed like a book written for Jr. High students.

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May 05, 2013 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

90% of the way through the book. I enjoy the general storyline but I haven't really found anything to pull me in. I wish the author added more thoughts in her writing rather than "I don't have many friends. I am better than everyone in Oakland" feeling. Also, the whole "black people are bad" kind of gets to me. The fact that she specifically target black men as the people that give her a hard time.. for me, that's a bit much to specify in a book. I am curious to see how many people (specifically...more

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May 12, 2013 Muriel Smith added it

Apr 13, 2013 Robin Nugent marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Apr 11, 2013 Beth Stirling rated it 1 of 5 stars

Apr 08, 2013 Earl Melvin marked it as to-read

Mar 30, 2013 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 28, 2013 Abbie Tuning marked it as to-read

Mar 20, 2013 Ashley marked it as to-read

Shelves: kindle-lending-library

Mar 02, 2013 Makayla Bissell marked it as to-read

Feb 22, 2013 Michael Twist marked it as to-read

Feb 10, 2013 Tara marked it as to-read

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About Ying Ma

Ying Ma (馬穎) writes about China, the free market and international affairs. Her articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal Asia, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, National Review Online, The Weekly Standard, Policy Review and other publications.

Ms. Ma received a B.A. in Government, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. She is a...more

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