Friday 56 & Book Beginnings: Home is a Roof Over a Pig

Home is a Roof Over a Pig by Aminta Arrington

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For Book Beginnings:
The Chinese writer Zhang Ailing said that every butterfly is a dead flower flying back to look for her lost life. 
- p. 12

For Friday 56: 
Passersby stopped by to watch the children obviously enjoying themselves. Except for Katherine. She was the only one not doing the motions. Instead, she stared at a man nearby sawing a branch off a tree.
- p. 56.

This is another win on Goodreads! I've been to China and being Asian myself, I am always fascinated with learning about my neighbours. So a vicarious journey like this is always a treat. 

I've been horrible with my reviews, but they are coming! What are you reading? 

Synopsis of Home is a Roof Over a Pig by Aminta Arrington: When all-American Aminta Arrington moves from suburban Georgia to a small town in China, she doesn't go alone. Her army husband and three young children, including an adopted Chinese daughter, uproot themselves too. Aminta hopes to understand the country with its long civilization, ancient philosophy, and complex language. She is also determined that her daughter Grace, born in China, regain some of the culture she lost when the Arringtons brought her to America as a baby.

In the university town of Tai'an, a small city where pigs' hooves are available at the local supermarket, donkeys share the road with cars, and the warm-hearted locals welcome this strange looking foreign family, the Arringtons settle in . . . but not at first. Aminta teaches at the university, not realizing she is countering the propaganda the students had memorized for years. Her creative, independent (and loud) American children chafe in their classrooms, the first rung in society's effort to ensure conformity. The family is bewildered by the seemingly endless cultural differences they face, but they find their way.

With humor and unexpectedly moving moments, Aminta's story is appealingly reminiscent of "Reading Lolita in Tehran." It will rivet anyone who is thinking of adopting a child, or anyone who is already familiar with the experience. An everywoman with courage and acute cultural perspective, Aminta recounts this transformative quest with a freshness that will delight anyone looking for an original, accessible point of view on the new China.