Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party

"Based on the author's family's experiences in China during the Cultural Revolution under Mao, this tells of one family's losses in that turbulent era. The narrator Ling is a little child at the beginning of her story, and as her family faces more and more hardship, she gets older and tougher. Ling is the only child of a loving father who is a doctor and a mother who works at the hospital too. As the story begins, they enjoy a wonderful life together. Soon, however, they are accused of being enemies of the people and their comfortable life gets harder and harder. Ling's father is imprisoned, yet released occasionally to perform surgeries on party officials, so Ling tries to sneak into the hospital to catch a glimpse of her father at those times. Ling's mother gets more and more depressed, and Ling is afraid she will commit suicide. The title is taken from a saying of Chairman Mao. Compestine does a good job giving young YA readers a realistic picture of what that period of history meant to individuals caught in the political nightmare. Certainly those with a Chinese heritage will find the story important to understand their own family history."—KLIATT

 

"During the early 1970s, nine-year-old Ling and her parents lived through the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Without an invitation, one of Chairman Mao Zedong's political officers moved in with the family. Ling's father was subsequently imprisoned for being a 'bourgeois sympathizer.' At school, Ling's individuality and life were threatened on a daily basis by her revolutionary classmates. The death of Chairman Mao on September 9, 1976, marked the beginning of better days ahead for Ling, her parents, and the Chinese people. Many of the events in Compestine's fictional debut novel actually occurred during her childhood. Early on in this story, Ling felt closer to her father as a result of her mother's constant criticism. After her protective father's imprisonment, Ling relied on her mother and her own five senses to survive. The similes that are used by Compestine—'Ling, your hair is as dry as dead grass'—add to the story's appeal. This freedom-loving reviewer appreciated this novel."—Children's Literature

"The Cultural Revolution marches into young Ling Chang's life, upsetting the pleasant routines of living in the medical complex. Beautifully descriptive phrases allow this autobiographical fiction to come alive with the colors of the clothing that are lovingly sewn for Ling, the aromatic preparations of the food that is cooked, and the genuine appreciation of school, work, and valued neighbors. Then Comrade Li is forced to live in the Chang home, and as the Red Guard takes over, people are spied upon, denounced, and arrested, including Ling's surgeon father. Mounting fear pervades daily life, rations become scarce, and in the name of Mao's revolution, the bourgeois are the enemy. Ling is ostracized and bullied at school and the danger of losing her parents lurks around every corner. Violence is highlighted in vivid detail, and the reader watches the changes as they affect Ling growing up. The secret radio to the West, the image of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the question of the nature of freedom draw American readers into a historically accurate portrayal of this period in China. The simple narrative is [refreshing] . . . in its youthful disbelief of the hardships that have befallen them in a changing political situation."—VOYA

 

"Picture book and cookbook author Compestine turns to 1972 China as the setting for her first YA novel . . . Ling, the spunky daughter of two doctors, lives in Wuhan, China; dreamy and idealistic, she often describes her world in metaphor (about her neighbor, Ling notes, Mrs. Wong was fragrant and warm like a red peony, which always welcomed visitors). But the lives of Ling and her family are disrupted when Comrade Li, an officer of the Communist Party, moves into their apartment. Difficulties mount as friends and neighbors disappear, Ling's father is arrested and she endures vicious tormenting at school because of her bourgeois background ('At times I wished my family was poor and my parents worked on a vegetable farm . . . so I could have friends. But if my parents worked on a farm, who would treat their patients?'). Although her father has been jailed, her family starved and their books burned, Ling fights to keep her long hair, a symbol of dignity and individualism to her, though her classmates see it as emblematic of Ling's privilege. Ling survives on wit, hope and courage until the death of Chairman Mao, after which she and her mother have a joyful reunion with Ling's father. Readers should remain rapt by Compestine's storytelling throughout this gripping account of life during China's Cultural Revolution."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)