Challenging Maggots in the Rice; Women Warriors

Finished IN THE YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON by Bette Lao Lord about a young girl, Shirley Temple Wong, and her arrival into New York City. Geared more towards middle school readers, I loved the way this story was scripted. It made me think of a more accessible WOMAN WARRIOR: MEMOIR OF A GIRL AMONGST GHOSTS by Maxine Hong Kingston (which remains in my top ten reads of all times). In honor of both books, I found a clip from Disney's MULAN which is, of course, the American musical version of a Chinese experience. Even so, there are remnants of the Chinese-American narrative that are unique to our culture. Knowing all of them together makes me smile about the human experience. As Confucius wrote, "Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it."