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New Y ork Times Bestsellers
Hardcover Fiction
1 H A RRY PO T T E R A N D THE
CHAMBER OF SECRETS, by J. K.
Rowling. 2 HARRY POTTER AND
THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, by
J. K. Rowling. 3 HARRY POTTER
AND THE SO RCERER’S STONE ,
by J. K. Rowling.
4 TIMELINE , by Michael Crichton.
5 ATLANTIS FO UND , by C live
Cussler.
6 H E A R T S IN A T L A N T IS , by
Stephen King.
7 IR R E S IS T IB L E F O R C E S , by
Danielle Steel.
8 A W ALK TO REMEMBER, by
Nicholas Sparks.
9 POP GOES THE W EASEL, by
James Patterson.
10 S A V IN G F A IT H , by D avid
Baldacci.
January 12,2000
Focus
In Print
—~~ '
Page 7
Falling Leaves : The True Story of an
Unwanted Chinese Daughter
by Adeline Yen Mah
P a p erb ack - 278 pag es R eprint ed itio n (A p ril 6, 1999)
Broadway Books
B ook
D e sc rip tio n
Bom in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north o f Shanghai, Adeline
Yen Mah was the youngest child o f an affluent Chinese family who
enjoyed rare privileges during a time o f political and cultural upheaval.
But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood o f
appalling emotional abuse at the hands o f a cruel and manipulative
Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through her enduring faith in
family unity, Adeline struggled for independence as she moved from Hong
Kong to England and eventually to the United States to become a physician
and writer.
Non-fiction
1 TUESDAYS W ITH MORRIE, by
Mitch Albom.
2 THE GREATEST GENERATION,
by Tom Brokaw.
3 THE GREATEST GENERATION
SPEAKS, by Tom Brokaw.
4 LIFE: Our Century in Pictures, edited
by Richard B. Stolley and Tony Chiu.
5 ’TIS, by Frank McCourt.
6 HAVE A NICE DAY! by Mick
Foley.
7 AND THE CROW D GOES WILD,
by Joe Gamer.
8 THE CENTURY by Peter Jennings
and Todd Brewster.
9
W HEN
P R ID E
S T IL L
MATTERED, by David Maraniss.
10 PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY
A compelling, painful, and ultimately triumphant story o fa girl’s journey
into adulthood, Adeline’s story is a testament to the most basic o f human
needs: acceptance, love, and understanding. With a powerful voice that
speaks o f the harsh realities o f growing up female in a family and society
that kept girls in emotional chains, Falling Leaves is a work of heartfelt
intimacy and a rare authentic portrait o f twentieth-century China.
Snow W hite’s stepmother looks like a pussycat compared to the monster
under which Adeline Yen Mah suffered. The author’s memoir o f life in
mainland China and— after the 1949 revolution— Hong Kong is a gruesome
chronicle o f nonstop emotional abuse from her wealthy father and his
beautiful, cruel second wife. Chinese proverbs scattered throughout the
text pithily covey the traditional world view that prompted Adeline’s
subservience. Had she not escaped to America, where she experienced a
fulfilling medical career and a happy marriage, her story would be
unbearable; instead, it’s grimly fascinating: Falling Leaves is an Asian
Mommie Dearest.
Paperback Fiction
1 H A RRY PO TT E R A N D TH E
SO RCERER’S STONE , by J. K.
Rowting
2 THE GREEN M ILE, by Stephen
King.
3 SEIZE THE N IG H T , by Dean
Koontz.
4 SOUTHERN CROSS, by Patricia
Cornwell.
5 A MAP OF THE W ORLD
, by Jane Hamilton.
6 T O M C L A N C Y ’S PO W E R
PLAYS: Shadow W atch, created by
Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg.
7 JEW ELS OF THE SUN, by Nora
Roberts.
8 VINEGAR HILL, by A. Manette
Ansay.
9 LEFT BEHIND, by Tim LaHaye and
Jerry B. Jenkins.
10 MIRROR IMAGE, by Danielle
Steel.
non-fiction
1 A N G E LA ’S A SH ES, by Frank
McCourt.
2 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL, by Gary
Zukav.
3 THE PE R F E C T STORM , by
Sebastian Junger.
4 OUR DUMB CENTURY, edited by
Scott Dikkers.
5 BLIND M AN’S BLUFF, by S heny
Sontag and Christopher Drew with
Annette Lawrence Drew.
6 A WALK IN THE W OODS, by Bill
Bryson.
7 THE PRO FESSO R AN D THE
MADMAN, by Simon Winchester.
8 INTO THIN AIR, by Jon Krakauer.
9 A CHILD CALLED " I T ,” by Dave
Pelzer.
10 GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, by
Jared Diamond.
Ophelia Speaks
Their Search for Self
by Sara Shandler
P a p e rb a c k
-
Harperperennial Library
285
pag es
(Ju n e
Adolescent Girls Write About
. i------------------------------ 1
1999)
Ophelia Speaks by Sara Shandler is a clever response to Mary Pipher’s
bestselling Reviving Ophelia Shandler reveals telling portraits o f teenage
girls in this book, a compilation o f essays, poems, and true-grit commentary
from a cross section o f teenage girls (or Ophelias), throughout the country.
The book succeeds because it gives voice to their deepest concerns and
their too-often frenzied lives. Because she’s a college student, Shandler
considers herself a peer o f these adolescent girls, able to tap into their
collective consciousness.
Shandler is as determined as she is a sharp reporter in chronicling the lives
o f these young women. To research the book, she sent out a mass mailing
o f 7,000 letters to high school and junior high school principals, counselors,
and teachers explaining her book project and urging them to encourage
teenage girls to contribute.
The topics covered run the gamut, but they include parental expectations,
racial relations, and faith, among others. Sadly, eating disorders are an all-
too-popular topic. The good news is that Shandler’s contributors offer up
some real insight for their peers. In one essay titled “Food Is Not My
Enemy,” Elizabeth Fales “calls us to a new feminism. In the old feminism,
our mothers fought for the right to choose abortion. In our generation, we
must fight for the right to eat.”
The book also gives practical insight for parents who may find it hard to
relate to their teenage daughters. In a nutshell, it appears that adolescent
girls wai t unconditional love from parents who can be confidants without
being overly critical. — Peg Melnick, amazon.com
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