She scored

Sue from Naperville Now recommended the book Girl in Translation, which is about an immigrant child from Hong Kong. I haven't read it, but it seems to be based on what the author and her mother experienced as well. Not the plot, but the difficulties of being an immigrant.

I'm sure it will become a movie, or will at least be optioned, because it's a bestseller and has gotten a lot of press, though the author keeps mentioning the same details (or the publisher does, and interviewers don't go beyond the basics). For instance, in various interviews and even a video, she says her family was "fairly well-off in Hong Kong" but had to start over in New York. But she doesn't say how they became poor when they came to the US. How can someone go from the good life to poverty in just one move? Why does she use the same general information without further elaborating?

Another thing I'm wondering about is why her mother never learned English even though she lived in New York for so many years. I know that it's hard to learn a new language, especially if someone is so busy, but eventually I'm sure her mother had the time to learn. I just think it's odd that people, especially who are educated, would choose to live in their own language for so long.

Anyway, the author had a hard life and overcame a lot to go to the Ivy Leagues and publishing world, so she's really scored.