The seven year old, nameless, narrator of the ghetto of San Li Tun is a real heroine, brave, funny and smart. However, she is vulnerable to the pain of unrequited love.
I'd welcome as sequel as I really wanted to know how she grew up.
Extract
So we were confined to the ghetto - big deal! Freedom wasn't calculated in square feet. In the end freedom was to left to ourselves. Adults can give their children no finer gift than to forget about them.
Forgotten by both the Chinese and parental authorities the children of San Li Tun were the only autonomous individuals in the entire People's Republic. Ecstasy, heroism, and divine wickedness were ours.
Playing at anything but war would have been demeaning.
