Freedom Swimmer
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A powerful story of friendship, bravery, and a desperate bid for freedom, inspired by true events.
Ming survived the famine that killed his parents during China's "Great Leap Forward", and lives a hard but adequate life, working in the fields.
When a group of city boys comes to the village as part of a Communist Party re-education program, Ming and his friends aren't sure what to make of the new arrivals. They're not used to hard labor and village life. But despite his reservations, Ming befriends a charming city boy called Li. The two couldn't be more different, but slowly they form a bond over evening swims and shared dreams.
But as the bitterness of life under the Party begins to take its toll on both boys, they begin to imagine the impossible: freedom.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Opening in 1962 and then resuming in 1968, and inspired by her father's experiences, Chim (The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling) tells a powerful tale of two boys who have seemingly nothing in common as they toil through the years under China's Communist regime. Ming Hong, 11, has survived the Great Leap Forward, though it left him an orphan, and now works diligently in the fields with his friends. When city boys from the Party's reeducation program come to Dingzai village, Ming doubts whether they'll fit in. Despite this, Ming befriends the charming and respected Li, and through evening swims and candid conversations, the two become confidants, sharing secrets, forbidden thoughts, and dreams. As Li's growing fondness for village life and their ideals is noticed by his comrades and he is rendered an outcast, Li decides to act on their dream and suggests the impossible: a daring escape to freedom. This stark, compelling historical narrative, enriched with sensory details and interwoven Chinese, effectively recounts the fierce resolve and bravery of the real-life freedom swimmers. Front matter includes a note on phonetics; back matter features an author's note saluting the real-life freedom swimmers, including her father. Ages 12–up.
