Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan - Hardcover

Lu Chi Fa; Becky White

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0823415600 ISBN 13: 9780823415601

Publisher: Holiday House, 2001

Synopsis

When Lu Chi Fa's parents died in 1944, he was only three years old. The timing of the tragedy could not have been worse-- it was a time of political turmoil and severe hardship in China.  Few people willingly took in orphans, and Chi Fa's extended family was no exception.  The young boy was shuffled from one house to another as his relatives turned him away, one by one.  Even his loving sister was forbidden by her husband to take him under her roof.

Chi fa was always hungry, often cold, and frequently beaten.  But through all his struggles, he held onto his sister's hopeful words: "You are lucky, Chi Fa. Good fortune will find you."

This stirring memoir of a painful childhood tells a story of resilience and courage, and attests to the power of even small acts of kindness.

About this title

About the Author

Lu Chi Fa was born in the Jiangsu Province in China. He grew up there and in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States. He now owns a successful restaurant and lives in Morro Bay, California.

Becky White taught elementary school for five years before creating more than three hundred educational books. She lives with her husband in a windmill home in California, where she enjoys gardening and making books and movies for her grandchildren.

Reviews

Grade 5-10-The power of positive thinking is amply demonstrated in this moving memoir. Born in the turmoil of the Sino-Japanese war in China's Jiangsu province and orphaned at age three, young Chi Fa ("new beginning") had more new beginnings than any child should have to face. He was passed from relative to relative and finally sold to a Communist village chief who treated him badly. Rescued by his sister 18 months later, he was returned to his unwelcoming relatives. At nine years old, he was the caretaker for a mute epileptic and then sent to Shanghai to join the brother and the family who had first sold him. In time, they ended up in Kowloon, where, for nearly three years, Chi Fa supported them by begging, until an aunt arranged for them all to migrate to Taiwan. For the first time in his life, at 13, he went to school, but after a year, he was pulled out to work. He contributed to that family until he was conscripted into the Taiwanese army. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States, following a dream he had had for 14 years. The strength of this book is in the clarity of Chi Fa's personal story, his optimism and determination in the face of incredible adversity. The grinding poverty of daily life in China is clear. Less trustworthy is his understanding of geography and politics of the world beyond his family. Such errors make this touching story somewhat less convincing.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Currently the owner of a restaurant in California, Lu looks back on a life that reflects China's tumultuous recent history, from wars and famine to Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. Orphaned at three, Chi Fa grows up amid hardships that will be scarcely imaginable to American readers. "Chi Fa, you are lucky. Good fortune will find you," his beloved Sister tells him when, yielding to her husband, she abandons him on another sibling's doorstep. The boy is shunted among his relatives, sold to strangers and eventually rescued from them by Sister; he is beaten, starved and forced to beg. At 12, he survives a dangerous trek to freedom in Hong Kong, where an elderly man to whom he gives food fuels his dreams of emigrating to America ("In America people eat three times a day. In America they are too full to swallow sorrow"), a dream he finally realizes at 20. The first-person narrative is pedestrian and even plodding in parts ("An important thing I forgot to mention is China's class system"), but readers who are not put off by the prose will be impressed by Chi Fa's perseverance, intelligence and goodness of heart. Photos not seen by PW. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 5-9. Orphaned in 1944 at age three, Chi Fa had no real home. He was passed among Chinese relatives and even sold to strangers, and he grew up amid abuse, poverty, and family betrayal. But through it all, he found hope and sustenance in small things: occasional kindness, his comforting dragon-friend dreams, riding a train, and the stars at night. Chi Fa eventually worked his way across China, finally achieving freedom and a better life in America. The memoir is sometimes painful to read, but it also informs and inspires. The descriptive, first-person text includes details of Chinese life, traditional culture, and early Communism as it conveys both the physical and emotional toll exacted by poverty and the importance of determination, hope, and compassion. Each chapter illustrates a valuable life lesson Chi Fa learned from his experiences ("Be Thankful," "Be Kind"). It's a heartfelt, intimate glimpse at tragedy, triumph, and the Asian experience during a time of political change. A time line provides some context. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823415600
• ISBN 13: 9780823415601
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212