Ji-li is 12 years old when the book begins and 14 when it ends. According to the subtitle, it is her “memoir of the Cultural Revolution,” but it is also a story about a girl growing up into a young woman, losing her innocence and finding purpose in her mature commitment to her family. In the two and a half years the book chronicles, Ji-li goes from being an enthusiastically good student—both academically and politically speaking—to being a subdued and devoted daughter who sees her “job” (263), in the end, as protecting and taking care of her family, even if it means sacrificing her own material and political wellbeing.

Like all coming of age stories, Ji-li’s path to maturity is fraught with setbacks. She has to work through her deep disappointment at having the bright future she imagined for herself snatched away because of her family’s class status, and she has to deal with her own anger towards her family that comes with this disappointment. Along with this anger and disappointment, she must negotiate the terror of having her father taken away from the family and of being put into the position of having to choose whether to protect him or save herself.