Jean Boreen, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
As the title indicates, this is the novel of a young Chinese schoolgirl from ages 13 to 15. Within the pages of her diary, Ma Yan talks about her desire to do well at school so that she can be a greater aid to her parents, Chinese peasants struggling to offer a better life to their children. Ma Yan relates her fears about testing and being top in her class, her desire to make her parents proud, and her hunger. It is the desperate scraping together of “yuan” (Chinese money) to pay for paper, pens, rice that becomes a reoccurring theme in the diary; she speaks passionately throughout the diary of how she will make a better life for her parents in the future and that they will never be hungry again. Another large aspect of Ma Yan’s diary focuses on her mother; at one level, Ma Yan understands that it is her mother’s (Bai Juhua) great desire that her children have a strong education, both for the good of each child as well as for fortune’s of the family. However, Ma Yan, as a teenager, is often moved to tears by what she considers her mother’s lack of consideration for her. Often, Bai Juhua lashes out at her daughter and tells Ma Yan she is not working hard enough or being considerate enough of Bai Juhua; this typically leads to Ma Yan tring to do more around the house, a difficult juggle with all of the homework she already has. This book will easily help readers understand how important education is to those who have to struggle to be included (a novel concept for most American students). It does not have the emotional impact of a diary such as Anne Frank’s, but it will leave an impression. 2005, Harper Collins, $15.00. Ages 10 to 15.

CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices, 2006)
A French journalist originally helped publish the diary of Ma Yan, a fourteen-year-old Chinese girl who struggled to stay in school and receive an education under grueling circumstances. Ma Yan is the first in her family to have a real chance at getting out of the poverty and backbreaking work that has beaten down her family for generations. Her parents go to great lengths to be able to afford to keep her in school, and she lives in constant fear of failing and dishonoring her parents’ sacrifice. Her insight is incredibly astute, her gratitude and love for her parents is powerful. Along with the typical stress of being a student in a rigorous school, Ma Yan also must deal with the guilt that she is not contributing money to the family, and almost constant hunger and cold. American readers will be shocked at how much thinking Ma Yan had to do on so few calories! Photographs of Ma Yan, her family, and the rural Chinese community in which she lives are included in this important volume. Since it’s original pubulication in a French newspaper, funds have been raised to help children like Ma Yan stay well-fed and clothed and in school. Ma Yan writes in a letter to her French supporters that “I really understand what joy in this world means: friendship. . . You said that you could help other children from families in need. . . Let them too complete their schooling and fulfill their dreams. All my thanks.” CCBC Category: Contemporary People, Places, and Events. 2005, Edited and introduced by Pierre Haski. Translated from the French by Lisa Appignanesi. Originally translated from the Mandarin by He Yanping. HarperCollins, 166 pages, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 9-14.

Hope Morrison (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2005 (Vol. 59, No. 1))
In this contemporary diary of a rural Chinese schoolgirl, readers meet Ma Yan, a young teen from the impoverished village of Zhangjiashu. As described in an early chapter, Pierre Haski, a French journalist, visited this region in 2001, and Ma Yan’s mother thrust the girl’s diary into his hands; intrigued, he began to explore the story of Ma Yan, first publishing part of her diary in a French newspaper and then editing the publication of this book for young readers. The publication made Ma Yan an instant poster child for improving educational opportunities for Chinese children and led directly to the creation of the Association for the Children of Ningxia, a French nonprofit devoted to the cause. Ma Yan’s story centers squarely on her determination to get an education and improve the lives of her family members. Her mother’s failing health, the degradation of her family’s farmland, and her determination to stay in school despite the odds are all candidly discussed in the context of her diary entries, which are organized chronologically and sectioned off topically, each section following a brief narrative introduction by Haski. Unfortunately, the girl’s young voice is impeded by a lack of narrative flow; the sentences are choppy, reflections are repetitive, and the bulk of the text is a flat and drawn-out play-by-play of events in her life. The real grabber here is the basis in fact and the contemporary timeframe; young readers are likely to rally in support of a peer’s struggle and take in the details of the final chapter, which describes what happened to Ma Yan in the aftermath of the book’s publication. Black-and-white photographs capture images of Ma Yan, her family, and scenes from around the village and school. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, HarperCollins, 176p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 5-8.

Katy O'Toole (The Kutztown Book Review, Fall 2006)
This is the story of a Chinese schoolgirl who desperately wants to go to school but since she is a girl she must work at home. The attention of school is given to the boys in the family that will bring honor to the family because they are educated. This story gives a good view of traditions and the way things are done in China. Category: Autobiography. 2004, HarperCollins, $16.89. Ages 10 up.

Lucy Schall (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
In this inspirational diary, thirteen-year-old Ma Yan records her battle with poverty, hunger, criticism, failure, and guilt as she relentlessly seeks knowledge and a better life for her family and self. These two parts of her diary written in 2000 and 2001 begin in her last year of primary school and end in her first year of senior school. Living in China's "Region of Thirst," Ma Yan's family barely survives. Ma Yan is bullied by dorm heads, made fun of by storekeepers and neighbors, and berated by her physically ill mother, who is torn between giving in to her daughter's pleas to attend school and keeping her home to support the family and the sons' schooling. Ma Yan takes hope from the example of determined handicapped people and her parents who endure hardship for their children. Accepting the enormous pressure to lead her academic class, pull her family from poverty, and help her country, she walks twelve and a half miles to school on little or no food and dedicates almost every minute to studying or helping her parents. Desperate, her mother gives the journal to Pierre Haski, a French journalist visiting the village. In publishing this journal, Haski helps Ma Yan and other students through book royalties and the resulting Association for the Children of Ningxia (see http://www.enfantsduningxia.org). Haski's introduction and essays explain geographic, economic, and social contexts. Ma Yan's determined and steadily maturing voice, as moving as Anne Frank's, should be offered to readers of all ages. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, HarperCollins, 176p.; Photos., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 18.

Lucy Schall (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Genius, underachieving, delinquent sixteen-year-old Evan Macalister combats biological terrorism, saves his father from a murder frame-up, and gets the girl in this hilarious mystery framed in generational conflict. Evan's seventy-year-old, emotionally distant, multimillionaire father wants Evan to learn the value of a dollar and star academically. Evan, who reads people rather than books, steals equipment from his father's medical company, which has a biological weapon division, and earns D and F grades as well as discipline referrals at his uptight private school. When Evan's father is arrested for strangling an employee whose laptop Evan has stolen, Ruben, Evan's unwilling partner in crime, breaks the computer's codes and discovers the name of the murdered man's Paris contact. Ruben, Evan, and Evan's love interest, who speaks perfect French, travel first class to Paris to meet Lubchenko. Distracted by Paris nightlife, they find Lubchenko, who fingers the culprit, reveals plans to sell a smallpox virus, and gives Evan information to clear his father. But they must get that information to the proper authorities without getting killed or revealing their source. As with Simmons's Pool Boy (Roaring Brook, 2003/VOYA June 2003), this coming-of-age story features a lovable anti-hero telling his story in a sarcastic, insightful voice. It also shares a father in jail, a stabilizing parent figure outside the family, and a seemingly impossible love interest. Because Evan keeps his underground activities secret, it could produce many entertaining teenage detective/spy sequels. VOYA CODES: 5Q 5P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Every YA (who reads) was dying to read it yesterday; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Razorbill/Penguin, 288p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 12 to 18.