Red Scarf Girl was written by Ji-Li Jiang and was published by Harper Collins; Reprint edition (2018). This book is a departure from the books we usually review. I found it depressing. We at Books 4 Christian Kids make it our goal to point you to books that are uplifting for kids and young adults.
Another difficulty: Amazon lists its reading level as being 8 to-12-year-olds. I don't think so. Yes, the vocabulary is appropriate for that age group; the sentence structure is appropriate for that age group and the author is telling the story of her life from the time she was twelve until she was fourteen so according to publisher thinking the book should be relatable to young independent readers. However, having all these elements does not make it a good choice for this age group.
This memoir is about the Cultural Revolution in China as it affected a young girl and her family. The cruelty and the insane "thinking" she encountered should not be fed to the young, impressionable and still powerless. I also don't think it appropriate for middle schoolers.
Dystopian novels have been very popular with YA and since kids seem unfazed by these kinds of novels, it might be argued that this memoir is suitable for young teens. But the incidents depicted in Red Scarf Girl are not like those that unfold in such novels. In dystopian novels there is a hero/heroine who triumphs eventually over evil and changes the world. A young person can escape into such a novel and know that all will end well. And even more importantly, the reader knows from the first page to the last page—the dystopian world is not a real one. It is a fantasy world, created by an author's imagination. The Cultural Revolution was a real event. Ji-li and her family endured it, but with great difficulty. She says in the epilogue by the grace of God.
However, Red Scarf Girl might be a useful book for high schoolers. I think they will have some emotional and psychological distance between themselves and the people in a book. The book does not have some of the graphic scenes that are described in other adult books on this subject. High schoolers would be able to read Ji-Li's story and exercise some of their critical thinking muscles.
Ji-Li begins her story in May of 1966. Ji-Li, who is well respected by her peers and teachers and excels at many things, has been selected to audition for the dance training class at the Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. When she tells her parents, she hears that while she has talent, her family's political background and those of her ancestors will cause her to be rejected. She learns sometime later that her grandfather had been a landlord and from a family that had been very wealthy. He died when her father was seven. Her grandmother and father had not profited from the grandfather's wealth, but instead had had to work hard for the little that they had. Ji-Li and her family, her parents, her brother, her sister and their grandmother, live in a one room apartment. She feels lucky to have a bathroom in their apartment.
Rejecting and punishing present day people because of the wealth or position of their ancestors becomes one of main objectives of the Cultural Revolution, those at large and those in the neighborhoods who terrorize their local community. In the memoir Ji-Li and her family find themselves many times victims of vicious, irrational behaviors. Ji-Li also recounts episodes where she witnesses attacks on others. She keeps her distance from the people being attacked, fearing that she will be punished as well.
When the Cultural Revolution began, Ji-Li explains, Chairman Mao spoke on the radio of the need for the people to end the evil Four Olds: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. The Red Guards and other groups interpret, often violently, whether something fits into one of the categories. People are mistreated and abused for small matters. School becomes not a place of learning but a place to further propaganda. Bullies rise to power and are allowed to shame and terrorize students and teachers. Ji-Li's father is detained at his work unit and beaten. Ji-Li is promised advancement if she will publicly accuse her father.
In the epilogue Ji-Li explains that she and others believed at the time that Chairman Mao was God. They had been brainwashed. After his death, they learned that the Cultural Revolution was about a power struggle within the Party. It was not for the good of the country or the people.
High schoolers might consider whether the abuse and anarchy that Ji-Li and others experienced was because they idolized a human being. It is sobering to think that a government could behave in such a way and that people would just go along blindly even when they were faced with knowing that the "crimes" for which people were being mistreated were based on lies or gross exaggerations. That people could be denied opportunities and/or punished because of something their ancestor did does not line up with biblical truth. (Ezekiel 18: 2-4)
I think readers also need to grapple with what might be a Christian's response when they sees others being mistreated. Do you take the risk of offering kindness and help? It would be a challenge. Would God help you in such circumstances?
Looking at oppression from the outside as we do when we read this memoir, it is easy to see the abuse and insanity, but Ji-Li couldn't see it clearly and she didn't know, in most circumstances, what was the right thing to do. Her core values were determined by her adulation of a human being, by the government and by the people around her. It is only after much struggle that she comes to know that she will protect her family even if she must suffer. I think high schoolers and college students might ask themselves what their core values are and are they rooted in God who always knows the right thing to do.
I recommend that after reading Red Scarf Girl, high schoolers and college students re-visit The Hiding Place. This Dutch family, also living under an oppressive system, also made some decisions—very different decisions—about caring for others.
Nancy Ellen Hird is a mom, a writer and a credentialed teacher. (She taught seventh grade and preschool.) I Get a Clue and We All Get a Clue are her most recent works. These novels are mysteries for kids, ages 10 to 13. For several years she was a freelance reviewer of children's and teen's literature for the Focus on the Family website.
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