Lord, Bette Bao (1938– )
At the age of eight, Bette Bao traveled with her
family to the United States when her father was
sent on a business trip by the Chinese Nationalist
government. When the Nationalists were defeated
by the Communists in 1949, the Bao family be-
came exiles from their homeland.
Bette Bao Lord published In the Year of the
Boar and Jackie Robinson (1984) as a fictionalized
account of her first year in the United States as a
new student in Brooklyn, New York. Through the
persona of Shirley Temple Wong, Lord tells her
immigration story from a child’s perspective and
captures the hardships of adjusting to American
life. Although her classmates initially welcome her,
Shirley’s unfamiliar habits, such as bowing, and
lack of fluency in English later render her invis-
ible to her peers. She becomes isolated from her
classmates and even from her loving parents when
she cannot communicate the loneliness she feels
as the only Chinese girl in her school. As she learns
English, however, Shirley finds that her grasp on
Chinese begins to slip, and writing to cousins in
China becomes more difficult. In searching for the
appropriate words to describe her American expe-
riences, such as dressing up as a turkey for a school
pageant or babysitting triplets, Shirley serves as a
cultural translator, bridging the gap between her
old and new communities.
With no support or interference from the clan,
Shirley and her family face both the obstacles and
freedom of remaking themselves. The book title
represents Shirley’s determination to construct a
multicultural American identity. Her memory of
her grandfather telling folktales, combined with
the voices of her ethnically diverse classmates and
neighbors, enables Shirley to create a language via
which she can embrace her new sense of self and
home. She finds inspiration most in baseball and
especially in the legendary Jackie Robinson. Base-
ball represents Americanism because it counts on
teamwork and also encourages each player to make
a significant impact individually.
Bao Lord returned to Beijing from 1985 to 1989
when her husband Winston Lord served as the
American ambassador to China. She witnessed the
pro-democracy student demonstrations in Tianan-
men Square prior to the massacre. After returning
to the United States, she published Legacies: A Chi-
nese Mosaic (1990) based on many stories she col-
lected from survivors of the Cultural Revolution.
She collected some of the stories through personal
interviews; other stories made their way secretly
to her on audio cassettes. This book highlights the
cycles of violence and violations of human rights
in Communist China as each chapter presents the
voice of an anonymous “I” whose identity and re-
lationships are traumatically altered by the Cul-
tural Revolution.
Bao Lord’s other novels also explore the im-
pact of politics on both individuals and families.
Eighth Moon: The True Story of a Young Girl’s Life
in Communist China (1964) is based on the child-
hood of her youngest sister, Sansan, the infant
who had remained in China when the Bao family
embarked on what began as a business trip. When
the Communists assumed power, the Bao fam-
ily in the United States could not retrieve Sansan
and did not see her again until 1962. Spring Moon
(1981), a historical, romantic saga, chronicles the
lives of several generations of the House of Chang
during great political and cultural changes. Middle
Heart (1996), set in contemporary China, follows a
love triangle through political turmoil which tests
and changes families and friendships. Bao Lord’s
writing and activism strive to construct cultural
bridges and champion human rights by appealing
to the value of family.Bibliography
Fox, Mary Virginia. Bette Bao Lord: Novelist and Chi-
nese Voice for Change. People of Distinction Series.
Chicago: Children’s Press, 1993.
Natov, Roni. “Living in Two Cultures: Bette Bao
Lord’s Stories of Chinese-American Experience.”
The Lion and the Unicorn 11, no. 1 (1987): 38–46.
Karen Li MillerLost Names: Scenes from a Korean
Boyhood Richard E. Kim (1970)
A work divided into seven separate yet interrelated
vignettes from RICHARD E. KIM’s childhood inLost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood 17 5