Adeline Yen Mah Books In Order

Chinese Cinderella

A riveting memoir of a girl’s painful coming of age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s.

A Chinese proverb says, ‘Falling leaves return to their roots.’ In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline’s affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for the love and understanding of her family.

Following the success of the critically acclaimed adult bestseller Falling Leaves, this memoir is a moving telling of the classic Cinderella story, with Adeline Yen Mah providing her own courageous voice. /Content /EditorialReview EditorialReview Source Amazon. com Review /Source Content Chinese Cinderella is the perfect title for Adeline Yen Mah’s compelling autobiography in which, like the fairy tale maiden, her childhood was ruled by a cruel stepmother. ‘Fifth Younger Sister’ or ‘Wu Mei,’ as Yen Mah was called, is only an infant when her father remarries after her mother’s death. As the youngest of her five siblings, Wu Mei suffers the worst at the hands of her stepmother Niang. She is denied carfare, frequently forgotten at school at the end of the day, and whipped for daring to attend a classmate’s birthday party against Niang’s wishes. Her father even forgets the spelling of her name when filling out her school enrollment record. In her loneliness, Wu Mei turns to books for company: ‘I was alone with my beloved books. What bliss! To be left in peace with Cordelia, Regan, Gonoril, and Lear himself characters more real than my family…
What happiness! What comfort!’ Even though Wu Mei is repeatedly moved up to grades above those of her peers, it is only when she wins an international play writing contest in high school that her father finally takes notice and grants her wish to attend college in England. Despite her parent’s heartbreaking neglect, she eventually becomes a doctor and realizes her dream of being a writer.

Teens, with their passionate convictions and strong sense of fair play, will be immediately enveloped in the gross injustice of Adeline Yen Mah’s story. A complete glossary, historical notes on the state of Chinese society and politics during Yen Mah’s childhood, and the legend of the original Chinese Cinderella round out this stirring testimony to the strength of human character and the power of education. Ages 10 to 15 Jennifer Hubert

The Secret Dragon Society

The future belongs to you. Should anyone insult you, tell yourself this: I am a child of destiny who will unite East and West and change the world.

After enduring abuse at the hands of her cruel stepmother, Chinese Cinderella CC seeks refuge at a martial arts school and joins a secret dragon society.

Under the guidance of Grandma Wu, CC is introduced to the exciting world of espionage as a part of the Chinese Resistance movement. And when CC and her new comrades take on a daring mission to rescue a crew of WWII American airmen, they prove that true bravery knows no age barrier.

Along the River

Bestselling Chinese American author Adeline Yen Mah weaves her authentic accounts of life in China into an absorbing novel about a Chinese girl and her vision of a previous life. After a fall, CC is whisked away to a hospital. As she drifts in and out of consciousness, she is haunted by vivid dreams that seem strange yet somehow familiar. Thus begins CC’s emotional journey back to a privileged life lived eight hundred years ago during the Song dynasty. CC is the daughter of a wealthy and influential man, but she finds herself drawn to a poor orphan boy with a startling ability to capture the beauty of the natural world. As the relationship between these two young people deepens, the transforming power of art and romantic love comes into conflict with the immovable rules of Chinese society. This stunning fantasy adventure novel, inspired by China s most famous painting, Along the River at the Qing Ming Festival, tells the story of a friendship both tender and bold. CC s remarkable journey reminds readers that though time moves on, art and love endure.

Falling Leaves

‘Riveting. A marvel of memory. Poignant proof of the human will to endure.’ Amy Tan.’Brilliant, compelling, and unforgettable. A heart rending modern day Cinderella story set against the turbulence of 20th century China. Autobiography at its best.’ Nien Chang, author of Life and Death in Shanghai.’Charged with emotion…
A vivid portrait of the human capacity for meanness, malice and love.’ Jung Chang, author of Wild Swans.’Fascinating and heart rending stuff…
a harrowing story of emotional cruelty.’ The Times of LondonInternational bestseller. The emotionally wrenching yet ultimately uplifting memoir of a Chinese woman struggling to win the love and acceptance of her family. In this compelling memoir that scaled bestseller lists in England, Australia, and Hong Kong, Adeline Yen Mah chronicles her painful childhood growing up in a wealthy yet abusive Chinese family. The unwanted daughter scorned by her family, young Adeline dreamed of freedom and independence, ultimately escaping to the West to launch a successful career in medicine. When Adeline’s mother died giving birth to her, she was deemed bad luck and ostracized by her family. Then her father took a beautiful Eurasian bride and Adeline soon fell victim to the wrath of her stepmother. Treated as a pariah, she was shuttled off to boarding schools, bullied by her siblings, and deprived of the beautiful clothes and things given to the rest of the family. Moving from Shanghai and Hong Kong to London and the United States, Falling Leaves is an enthralling saga of a prosperous Chinese family set against a background of changing political times and the collision of East and West. Written in haunting prose, it evokes all the suspense and emotional force of a satisfying novel.

Watching The Tree

Somewhere it is written that every Chinese wears a Confucian thinking cap, a Taoist robe, and Buddhist sandals. In Watching The Tree, Adeline Yen Mah brings together the many influences on her life as a child of the East and as a student and adult in the West. Taking a step beyond her previous book, Falling Leaves, Adeline explores the centuries old Chinese traditions and their legacy in modern day China and the West. With her provocative essays on Buddhism, the I Ching, Tao, Confucius, and their role in shaping Chinese thought, Watching The Tree inspires as it uplifts the soul, giving readers an unusual glimpse inside a culture that remains mysterious and often misunderstood. In her sharp observations on Chinese food and medicine, yin and yang, Zen, and feng shui, Adeline enlightens readers with the mundane an approach to healing an illness with items you might find at a Chinese grocery store to the larger questions in life surrounding true happiness, health, and spirituality. Her stories reveal the strength and peace of mind that come from opening one’s heart and mind to the wisdom and experience of our combined histories.

A Thousand Pieces of Gold

In this poignant memoir the New York Times bestselling author of Falling Leaves, Adeline Yen Mah, provides a fascinating window into the history and cultural soul of China. Combining personal reflections, rich historical insights, and proverbs handed down to her by her grandfather, Yen Mah shares the wealth of Chinese civilization with Western readers. Exploring the history behind the proverbs, she delves into the lives of the first and second emperors and the two rebel warriors who changed the course of Chinese life, adding stories from her own life to beautifully illustrate their relevance and influence today.

China

A fascinating book about the history and culture of China. The history of China spans thousands of years. Journey through China in this fascinating and absorbing book: discover the land of dragons and emperors, and learn about the significance of its ancient dynasties. Countless tools and materials that people have used every day for centuries paper, gunpowder, cast iron, matches, and silk, to name just a few were first made in China. Chinese society has progressed through major changes, but lucky numbers, festivals, beliefs about colors, the practic of footbinding, the building of the Great Wall, and the larger than life people of China are all integral parts of this ancient civilization and still have an impact on life today. Bestselling author Adeline Yen Mah explores an extraordinary view of the great story of China over the last two millennia in this nonfiction work, which also includes black and white photographs. From the Hardcover edition.