The Secret Voice of Gina Zhang

by Dori Jones Yang

Overview

When Gina, a fresh immigrant from China, arrives for her first day of school in America, she not only can't speak English, she can't speak at all. Ages 10 and up. Originally published by American Girl in 2000. Winner of the Pleasant T. Rowland Prize for Fiction for Girls and the Skipping Stones Honor Award.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940012359261
Publisher:	East West Insights
Publication date:	04/13/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	417 KB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Dori Jones Yang is a Seattle-based author of many kinds of books, specializing in China and the U.S.-China connection. A former correspondent based in Hong Kong, she is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. For more information, see www.dorijonesyang.com.

Editorial Reviews

When her family moves to Seattle, Wash., from a village in southern China, 12-year-old Jinna must overcome her extreme shyness and learn to speak English. She wants desperately to prove she's as smart as everyone else is, but finds herself unable to will the words out of her mouth. Focusing almost entirely on Jinna's struggles in school, Yang's first novel conveys some of the unique challenges of the immigrant experience. . . . Jinna is a clever and brave heroine who will leave readers cheering

Reed Business Information

On Jinna's first day of school in this country, she is nervous and confused. Her parents expect her to learn English quickly, but when she is asked to repeat a word in her ESL class, she finds she cannot speak at all, not even in Chinese. The problem grows worse and worse, until Jinna's inability to talk leads her fifth-grade classmates and teachers to believe she is slow or just trying to get attention. Only at home, while inventing the story of Princess Jade-Blossom, which she acts out with ch

Ashley Larsen