A Girl Named Faithful Plum

Starred review from September 1, 2011

In 1978, an 11-year-old girl fights poverty and prejudice with gutsy perseverance and talent to fulfill her dream of studying at the Beijing Dance Academy.

Faithful Plum, or Zhongmei, lives in a remote area of China near Siberia. The standard of living is so low that she and her siblings eat one egg a year on their birthdays. She loves to dance, though, and upon hearing that the Academy is holding national auditions she sets her mind on going. And go she does, when a hunger strike and the kindness of her community overcome her parents' initial refusal. After a horrific three-day journey by trains and buses, Zhongmei comes through the difficult audition only to face an extreme daily regimen of exercise and instruction, an appallingly rigid dormitory supervisor and a ballet teacher scarred by the Cultural Revolution. Fortunately, a wise and kindly administrator recognizes her extraordinary talent. Bernstein, a noted columnist and author of books on China, is married to Zhongmei, who enjoyed a noteworthy career. In his first book for children, he has taken her voice as his own and written a riveting account of her first year at the Academy. The conversations ring true, albeit "imagined," and events have been compressed to keep the pace flowing.

A fascinating and memorable account of a life and times difficult to imagine today. (glossary) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2011

Gr 5 Up-In 1978, 11-year-old Li Zhongmei traveled for three days and two nights from her remote town on the Chinese-Soviet Union border to Beijing to audition for the Beijing Dance Academy. Despite her lack of connections, she was one of a dozen girls chosen from more than 60,000 applicants. In addition to the rigorous curriculum, she faced ridicule from her urbane classmates and teachers for being a "country bumpkin," and initially was unable to take the required Fundamentals of Ballet class. Despite many hardships, Zhongmei became one of China's most famous ballet dancers. Written by her husband, the book reads more like a novel than a biography; it's full of re-created dialogue, letters, and visual detail. The vivid descriptions bring China in the post-Cultural Revolution, pre-Tiananmen Square era to life. While the book does not discuss present-day China, it mentions that the country was extremely poor at the time and that living conditions are different today. Unlike Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer (Walker, 2008), this volume focuses less on politics and more on Zhongmei's struggles to succeed as a dancer. Readers of ballet stories and biographies, such as Siena Cherson Siegel's To Dance (S & S/Atheneum, 2006), will enjoy seeing how Chinese ballet differs from Western styles and appreciate Zhongmei's long hours of hard work and practice.-Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Grades 6-9 Leaving her poor, remote village in 1978, 11-year-old Zhongmei Li traveled an arduous three-day journey to audition for the Beijing Dance Academy. At the end of the highly competitive seven-stage competition, despite her rural background and lack of connections, she was one of the few girls selected. At the academy, a rigid dormitory supervisor and hostile teacher made life miserable for the young student, but the resolute Zhongmei survived the eight-year training and became a successful dancer. Written by her U.S. husband, this biography follows the steely, determined dancer through many adversities up to her academy graduation. Although the narrative is occasionally overly descriptive, it is packed with cultural information. It explains, for example, how a list of names is organized for posting, as there is no alphabetical order in Chinese. Inspiring for would-be dancers, Zhongmei Li's gritty success story is also a revealing window into post-Mao China.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)