Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.)
by Cynthea Liu
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Book Summary Information
Author: Cynthea LiuEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-19
ISBN: 0142411345
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Speak
Book Reviews of Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.)
Book Review: The Closely Monitored Call of China
Summary: 5 Stars
Both the series' description and this individual book's description gave off a definite whiff of Teen Chick Lit, and this man's man has something of an allergy to Teen Chick Lit as far as you know. One reason is that it is fairly easy for these kinds of books to go off the deep end either into absolutely routine fluff: boys, clothes, boys, makeup, boys, school problems, boys, etc., until you want to claw your face off, or to the opposite extreme of the overwrought Serious Issue where the Teen Angst is laid on so thick that not even a mop and bucket can soak it all up -- you are going to need a bilge pump. Not that I'd have any reason to know this, man's man and all that. It's just what I've heard.
Fortunately, Ms. Liu rather nicely balances the fluff with the serious here, providing not too much of either. On the one hand there's a cute boy, and Cece anguishes quite a bit over whether he notices her, why he notices her if he notices her, whether he likes her, whether he likes her roommate instead, etc.; on the other hand there's the Serious Issue: an adopted child seeking information about her birth parents, which is made somewhat unusual by involving an adoption of a baby girl from China. This juxtaposition keeps the story from dragging. If you should start getting tired of the teen love, it turns out to be time to take another step on the search for birth parent truth, and the same is true in reverse.
Now, frankly, I had no doubt that the "love" story would be brought to a happy conclusion -- I believe it's the law in Teen Chick Lit. However, Ms. Liu kept me guessing to the end about Cece's quest for truth; it was never clear that she would find out what she wanted to find out or that she would like what she found. I also liked the way Ms. Liu played around with stereotypes; the Prada-wearing, Gucci-toting, Asian Brat Pack member with the rule about never dating Asian boys turns out to have a lot more depth (and character) than expected by the end.
In fact the only sour notes in this symphony of words occur in the area of politics, my particular bailiwick, and I don't even think they were Ms. Liu's fault. Frankly, I'm amazed she got ANY criticism of the PRC past the gatekeepers at Penguin because unlike criticism of Nazi Germany or the United States prior to the last election, criticism of the PRC is not something likely to attract universal agreement at a mainstream publisher. The trouble is that in the perhaps necessary bending over backward Mrs. Liu was forced to go through, a few clanks were struck that I feel compelled to respond to.
"As far as Cece knew, one of the goals of communism was to eliminate oppression."
According to whom? The communists? It would be more accurate to say that one of the goals of communism was to eliminate OPPOSITION.
"Like the government's family policies, it was another of those issues Cece didn't quite understand."
Only if she was TRYING not to understand, or more likely, those with responsibility for teaching her didn't WANT her to understand, or even more likely, the author was trying to slip a criticism of Tiananmen Square past the thought police, both PRC AND PC. Not to put too fine a point on it, the PRC has been a brutal, vicious, totalitarian dictatorship from the moment of its birth. Those who insisted on disputing that BEFORE Tiananmen Square were fools, those who insisted on disputing that AFTER Tiananmen Square were far worse.
Of course not even evil governments commit evil all the time, and even the most evil, for example the Nazis, have been falsely accused of things they did not do. However, there's really not that much question about the (admittedly unintentional) evil results of China's one-child policies. That's because while it is correct to say that:
"'there is little data to measure,' therefore... conclusions must draw from anecdotal evidence, and that is the truth."
that is NOT because "abandonment is illegal", but rather because the PRC government that could conduct studies or allow others to conduct studies either refuses to do so or refuses to release the results. In the face of that neither objectivity nor the scientific method require us to say, "No data? No problem!" nor require us to even tacitly join the coverup chorus, "There's nothing to see here; move along; these aren't the droids you are looking for." This lack of data makes it difficult to measure the scope of the problem as well as to separate out other contributing causes, like the traditional preference for baby boys, but it also means we needn't accept with even less evidence the claims that a combination of brutal crackdown, easing of the one-child policies, and the Chinese people's growing recognition of the value of baby girls has put the problem on the road to solution.
I'd like to believe it has, but I don't.
Note: This appears to be an interesting series. There are clearly a number of obvious similarities, including the apparent requirement for a soul-crushing pun in the title:
Westminster Abby (S.A.S.S.)
Getting the Boot (S.A.S.S.)
Spain or Shine (S.A.S.S.)
Pardon My French (S.A.S.S.)
The Sound of Munich (S.A.S.S.)
Heart and Salsa (S.A.S.S.)
Now and Zen (S.A.S.S.)
Swede Dreams (S.A.S.S.)
Girl Overboard (S.A.S.S.)
The Finnish Line (S.A.S.S.)
When Irish Guys Are Smiling (S.A.S.S.)
French Kissmas (S.A.S.S.)
However, the fact that almost every one has a different author makes it less certain to me at least that they will all be of similar quality. Unfortunately, this series is apparently too culturally conservative in its portrayals of teenagers to be carried by sophisticated Chicagoland bookstores (no sex, no drugs, no smoking, hardly even any drinking) so that if I ever want to try any others, I shall have to special order them, sight unseen.
Summary of Great Call of China (S.A.S.S.)
Chinese-born Cece was adopted when she was two years old by her American parents. Living in Texas, she?s bored of her ho-hum high school and dull job. So when she learns about the S.A.S.S. program to Xi?an, China, she jumps at the chance. She?ll be able to learn about her passion?anthropology?and it will give her the opportunity to explore her roots. But when she arrives, she receives quite a culture shock. And the closer she comes to finding out about her birth parents, the more apprehensive she gets. Enter Will, the cute guy she first meets on the plane. He and Cece really connect during the program. But can he help her get accustomed to a culture she should already know about, or will she leave China without the answers she?s been looking for?
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