Important/Key Facts Summary

Title: Girl In Translation
Author: Jean Kwok
Date Published: 2011
Genre: Fiction

Synopsis

Kim and her Ma move from Hong Kong to New York and struggle to make a life in America. They work in Aunt Paula’s factory and live in a rundown, bug-infested apartment in Brooklyn. Adjusting to life in a new country is hard, so Kim devotes herself to her school work in order to make a better life. Ultimately, she’s able to get into a prep school, and then into Yale, finally being able to provide the better life that she promised Ma.

Setting

Set in New York City in modern times. Most of the story takes place in Kim’s schools, the factory she works at with her Ma, or their rundown apartment.

Style

This is written as if it’s a memoir from Kimberly. Everything is told from her point of view and in the first person. It has a casual tone, written as if she is telling a friend about what happened to her as she grew up in America.