Message from rflores

[Anonymous]

Droston,

I thank you for sharing the title Ties that Bind, Ties that Break with us. I've never heard of it, but am very interested in reading it now, thanks to your post. Another great book to read and teach in your Thematic Unit after reading The Diary of Anne Frank is Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-Li Jiang.

This memoir is about a young girl (Ji-Li Jiang), who suffered scorn and humiliation in her adolescent years from family and friends during the Cultural Revolution in China. This is a true story and has received several awards for its "engrossing" story. Here's the blurb:

"In 1966 Ji-Li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China's Communist Party. But that year China's leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over the next few years Ji-Li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co-workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-Li faced the most difficult choice of her life.
Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family's courage and determination during one of the most terrifying eras of the twentieth century."

Students can learn about two distinct historical truths, while reading about brave children who fought against injustice and freedom.