This is a Story of a Girl.

Part II of my book last week, "A Girl in Translation".

A Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok describes the main character Kimberly, a young girl from Hong Kong who came to America. She lives in a broken-down house filled with rats and roaches, and is often discriminated for her diversities with other students is her class. So far in the story, Kimberly receives a full scholarship to an extremely expensive middle school named Harrison Prep. She improves on her subjects (especially English) greatly, but doesn't fit in, as well as being constantly bullied.

Last week, I didn't really like to read this book. It was reluctantly boring. Kimberly kept comparing herself to other rich people and how she continuously got bullied by her classmates and Mr.Bogart. Fortunately, the book was more interesting this week. Kimberly got into a great private school and she's getting better and better. It's probably because Kimberly's actually putting more effort into her goal that the book keeps getting more interesting.

As the book progresses, I grow more pity for Kimberly, and some envy as well. She works in a factory and she's extremely poor, but she's super smart and was even accepted into a private school for free. However, if I were Kimberly, I'd try to be smart as well to grow up as a middle class, at least. When I read the book, I keep thinking up many emotional quotes I've heard throughout my life, such as "Treasure what you have now" or "Money isn't happiness". This book keeps making me think of my past experiences and how I should be happy to not be in poverty, to be in middle school, or to even have a computer in front of me. If you don't treasure what you have now, you may lose it forever, as it goes.

Kimberly lied a fair amount of times towards her only friend, Annette. It's obvious for one not to speak about a young girl who works in a factory and crams her homework after for her life. But is it okay to lie?

I said it depends. Especially for Kimberly, because her mother forces her to live as a Chinese girl and she shouldn't be "westernized". I don't like to be pitied for and it makes one feel like a freeloader. I care for others more than myself at certain points. But even if anyone lies, the truth will somehow to spoken about at some point later on. There are some things that should be taken personally, and if they're your problems, you should be responsible to fix them - but at the same time, not everything should be done by yourself. There are certain extents between things that should and shouldn't be done.