It will rivet anyone who is thinking of adopting a child, or anyone who is already familiar with the experience. With humor and unexpectedly moving moments, Aminta's story is appealingly reminiscent of Reading Lolita in Tehran. The family is bewildered by the seemingly endless cultural differences they face, but they find their way. Her creative, independent (and loud) American children chafe in their classrooms, the first rung in society's effort to ensure conformity. Aminta teaches at the university, not realizing she is countering the propaganda the students had memorized for years. In the university town of Tai'an, a small city where pigs' hooves are available at the local supermarket, donkeys share the road with cars, and the warm-hearted locals welcome this strange looking foreign family, the Arringtons settle in. She is also determined that her daughter Grace, born in China, regain some of the culture she lost when the Arringtons brought her to America as a baby. Aminta hopes to understand the country with its long civilization, ancient philosophy, and complex language. Her army husband and three young children, including an adopted Chinese daughter, uproot themselves too. When all-American Aminta Arrington moves from suburban Georgia to a small town in China, she doesn't go alone.
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