Status Updates From Dragonfly Eyes

Life changes drastically for Ah Mei and her family. Her French Grandmother, Nainai does all she can to keep the dignity of the family intact, yet not drawing attention to themselves, in fear of the new and cruel political regime. Ah Mei eventually goes to live with her parents, permanently.

Because of their French ancestry, bigotry rears its ugly head, and Nainai's grandchildren, that look like her, brown hair, European features, are now bullied, ridiculed and fear for their lives. An older cousin doesn't want to go to school.

The family was very rich at one time, but the new regime in China changed all that. Despite their circumstances, Grandmother, Nainai tried to keep their homelife as happy and familiar as she could. That leads to them pawning many of their luxuries, cherished possessions. Ah-Mei is a gifted pianist. She is greatly loved by all because of her personality.

Ah-Mei and her French Grandmother, Nainai are kindred spirits. This story had my interest from the first page. It has historical value, wonderful,
believable family relationships, and more. It covers a very difficult time period of China, when people went from having a somewhat normal life, to a life dictated to the extreme. People lost jobs, homes, freedom, and at times, their very lives. There was starvation.

Abandoning this one. I have tried twice to get into it and it is slow. It was on the ALA Media Award list for best translation of children’s lit.