TIES THAT BIND, TIES THAT BREAK

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break
By Lensey Namioka

Summary:

This is an exciting take on a young girl's life as a middle-class life in 1911 China. The main story takes place in her home, the Tao family "compound". The novel introduces themes about the importance of family, societal differences between Western Culture and Eastern Culture, and the turmoil of change. It looks at many themes through the main character, Ailin, with an emphasis on the change from her generation to her parents' generation. Her spirited and rebellious nature inspires her father to give her a different life from her sisters, allowing her to skip the traditional foot-binding process and go to a public school. Though this causes many hardships in her life, Ailin is helped by her public school teacher and eventually ends up in America. The end of the novel shows this young woman learning to cope with her new life in the new world and her choice to stay. To continue her tale, Lensey Namioka wrote a sequel, An Ocean Apart, A World Away.

TEACHABILITY:
This is definitely geared toward young girls, but the very different historical eastern world described could captivate both boys and girls in the classroom. There are brief instances of difficult vocabulary, but more often than not, Ailin will define these words in her own way to help the reader. Further, the themes were repeated over and over to make it obvious for young kids to follow and understand the use of theme or symbolism in a story. It can be used in a variety of ways, teaching about another culture, comparing historical China to United States, and even touches on the difficulty for immigrants to come to the United States. I would say this could definitely be for a very motivated 6th grade classroom, and for anyone in 8th grade.