The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl

genre: diary/memoir

Ma Yan lives a destitute life in rural China with her parents and two brothers.  As a young teen she writes a diary to help her process her hard life and as a way to dedicate herself to her schooling, which she loves.  That diary (yes, this is a true story) ends up in the hands of a French journalist who ends up helping Ma Yan publish her diary and turn it into a book.

I read this in a day and found it really engaging.  Yes, her diary is a bit repetitive, what middle schooler's isn't, but it's the thing she's focusing on that are interesting and heartbreaking.  She truly has practically no money, ever, and it the lack of food and school supplies is something that fills her thoughts.  But more than anything, she wants to make her mom proud and she wants to be successful.  She is so aware that education as the way out of their poverty and she wants it so bad.  It's such a stark look at rural indigence and puts a real face on how difficult survival, let alone progress, can be.  I liked the narrative format - that we'd read her diary entries for a while then there would be a chapter break with some explanations and context.  I also appreciated how all over the world, wherever they live and whatever there circumstances, girls on the cusp of adulthood both need and adore their parents and are frustrated with them at the same time.

I'd recommend this to middle school readers who are interested in social issues and other cultures.