Adeline's A Chinese Cinderella

The book A Chinese Cinderella begins in the fall of 1941. The main character is a young girl named Adeline and she is in kindergarten. Adeline has 4 birth siblings, Lydia, Gregory, Edgar, and James and 2 step siblings, Franklin and Susan. Adeline's meanest sibling is Edgar. Edgar goes out of his way to make Adeline's life miserable. He enjoys hurting her and making her feel like she is less than him. James, the youngest of the boys, is sometimes compassionate towards Adeline; however, he is in on many of the pranks Gregory and Edgar play. Lydia is the eldest child. Lydia has a lame arm, so she likes to boss her siblings around and have them carry out her chores. She becomes married at the age of 17 to a 31 year old man and is never seen again …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, Adeline comes home from her first week of kindergarten and gets a medal. She continually wins the medal each week for being the best leader. When her father recognizes this, her siblings become jealous and take from her. The one night, Edgar is acting up as Adeline is being praised for her medal. "I suddenly felt a hard blow across the back of my head... Deliberately he took my right arm under the table and gave it a quick, hard twist while no one was looking" (9). This is saddening because the parents do not tell Edgar to stop misbehaving. Adeline's siblings are rude and jealous. They therefore believe they can act up because they can not control their feelings. Furthermore, because they are not told to stop, so they become more vulgar towards their younger …show more content…
Their names are Niang (Jeanne Virginie Prosperi), Father (Joseph Yen), Nai Nai, Aunt Baba, and Ye Ye. Nai Nai is Adeline's grandmother. She is portrayed as a wise old lady. Her and Ye Ye are married. They are both Adeline's grandparents and they always teach Adeline about foot binding and how lucky Adeline is to be born after they demolished the foot binding law. Sadly, Nai Nai dies which is why father must find a new woman of the house. Father marries Niang. Joseph Yen is Adeline's fraternal father. When he shows his pride, only a couple times, Adeline is happy. Adeline is only looking for his approval. Niang is Adeline's French step mother. She has a very rude attitude towards Adeline. Niang does not like Adeline because she stands up to Niang's injustices. Niang is fathers new wife and is only 17 years old. Lastly, Adeline adores her Aunt Baba. They have a close bond because they are the powerless and unwanted people in the family. Throughout the book, Adeline and her Aunt Baba become closer and talk a lot. Aunt Baba also helps Adeline cope with