Ms. Mitchell Cultural Revolutions
Cultural Revolutions
Choice Read Book List
If you would like to select a book not on this list is must be approved by me by the end of the week.
CHINA
Anche Min Empress Orchid –Set in China’s Forbidden City in the last days of its imperial glory
Wild Ginger –An elementary school friendship is tested by the Cultural Revolution and love of the same man.
Bai Hua Remote Country of Women –A clash between two ways of life—the girl raised in the country under a matriarchy and the boys raised in the city during the Cultural Revolutions
Da Chen Colors od the Mountain –Biography: Young man growing up in the Cultural Revolution persecuted because his family were landlords
Ha Jin Waiting –Every summer Lin Kong, a doctor in the Chinese Army, returns to his village to end his loveless marriage to be with his mistress. He has been doing this for 18 years.
Lee, Jen Sookfong The End of the East –Sammy Chan thought she’d escaped family obligations but when he sister gets married its her responsibility to care for their aging mother
Lee, Lilian Farewell My Concubine –Tells the story of an opera student who falls in love with his best friend
Mah, Adeline Yen Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter –Mah was born to an affluent Chinese family in 1937 but suffered at the hands of an abusive stepmother until she eventually fled to England and then the US
Tsukiyama, Gail Women of the Silk –Set in rural China in 1926 following a group of women who work in the silk factory
INDIA
Bajwa, Supa The Sari Shop –The story of a poor sari maker who attempt to change his fate
Desai, Anita Fasting, Feasting –Young woman left behind to take care of her parents’ her nephew goes to the US
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss –Young woman growing up in rural India with grandfather; young man in New York City. Colonialism, caste system, and immigrant life.
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee Sister of my Heart –A story about the bond between two women and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart
Lahiri, Hhumpa The Namesake –American-born but haunted by parents’ Indian heritage, a young man tries to define himself
Roy, Arundhati The God of Small Things –Family secret affects twins into adulthood.
Sudi, Manil The Death of Vishnu –Vishnu, the servant living on the doorstep of an apartment building, serves as the focus of the lives of the families there
Whelan, Gloria Homeless Bird –Arranged marriage for thirteen-year-old girl for economic reasons. Husband soon died and she has to make her way both within and beyond her in-law family
ISLAMIC NATIONS
Hirslali, Ayaan Infidel –Memoir following Hirslal’s childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya to her political life
Hosseini, Khaled The Kite Runner—Amir and Hassan grew up in Afghanistan together in very different classes. Years later, after emigrating to America, Amir returns to pay a debt he feels he owes Hassan from a betrayal in their childrood.
A Thousand Splendid Suns—A fictional story that recounts the intersecting lives of two different women during the Taliban years in Afghanistan.
And the Mountains Echoed—A new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations.
Mortenson, Greg Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time –Story of a homeless mountaineer who, after an inspiring encounter in Pakistan, set out to build 55 schools in Islamic nations.
Seierstad, Asne The Bookseller of Kabul –In the spring of 2002, after the fall of the Taliban, Seierstad spend four months living with a bookseller in Kabul. For twenty years this bookseller had illegally sold forbidden books to knowledge-hungry Afghans
Steward, Rory The Places in Between –In 2002 Steward walked across Afghanistan—surviving only by his wits, knowledge of local dialects, and the kindness of strangers
Yousafzai, Malala I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education: The memoir of the 15 year old Pakistani young woman shot in the head by Taliban for pursuing an education.
NORTHERN AFRICA
Achebe, Chinua Arrow of God—Novel describes the conflict between old and new as seen through the personal struggle between father and son in a Nigerian village.
Things Fall Apart— Considered the To Kill a Mockingbird of Africa. Novel focuses on the changes that take place in a Nigerian village when Christian missionaries arrive.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi Purple Hibiscus –Novel about a 15 years old Nigerian woman experiencing her coming of age as her country and family are on the cusp of change
Beah, Ishamel A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier –Thirteen year old boy caught in Sierra Leone’s civil war.
Deng, Deng & Ajak They Poured Fire on us from the Sky –Three boys from Sudan tell their stories of life on the run during the civil war
Eggers, Dave What is the What: Memoir of one of the Sudanese Lost Boys reflecting on his time in Sudan during the conflict, the refugee camps in Kenya, and his eventual move to Syracuse, NY
Jelloum, Tahar Ben The Sand Child –Multiple narrative voices for a tale illustrating the different expectations for gender roles in Muslim society
Naipaul, V.S. A Bend in the River –The perils of being an European African in a small African state after colonial powers has been driven out