“Girl in Translation”, Jean Kwok
Published April 29, 2010
When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family’s future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition. Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.
Through Kimberly’s story, author Jean Kwok, who also emigrated from Hong Kong as a young girl, brings to the page the lives of countless immigrants who are caught between the pressure to succeed in America, their duty to their family, and their own personal desires, exposing a world that we rarely hear about.
Written in an indelible voice that dramatizes the tensions of an immigrant girl growing up between two cultures, surrounded by a language and world only half understood, Girl in Translation is an unforgettable and classic novel of an American immigrant--a moving tale of hardship and triumph, heartbreak and love, and all that gets lost in translation.
“What a relationship looks like on the outside isn’t the same as what it’s like on the inside. You can be more in love with someone in your mind than with the person you see every day.”
Girl in Translation is a moving, semi-autobiographical novel about resilience, sacrifice, and the hidden struggles of immigrant life. The book is about Kimberly Chang, a young girl who emigrates from Hong Kong to Brooklyn with her mother. However, instead of living the exciting American dream, they find themselves living in poverty and working in harsh conditions at a garment factory. By day, Kimberly is a bright student navigating the unfamiliar world of American classrooms; by night, she works alongside her mother, burdened with adult responsibilities far beyond her years. The novel captures the jarring contrasts in her life—excelling in academics while battling language barriers, poverty, and the weight of filial duty.
Kwok’s writing is clear and heartfelt, she can pull you into Kimberly’s world with vivid detail and emotional honesty. Girl in Translation highlights the complexities of the immigrant experience: the invisible labor, the cultural duality, the humiliations, and the unyielding drive to build a better future no matter the obstacles. While the story is heartbreaking, especially for Kimberly, it’s also full of hope. The strength of family bonds and the sacrifices mothers and daughters make for one another shines bright, as well as the poignant reflection on perseverance belonging, and the costs of chasing the American dream wrapped in a coming-of-age story. I believe this is what makes this book still memorable even after 10 years.
Content Warnings
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of content and trigger warnings.
child abuse • racism • xenophobia
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Owned: thrifted paperback