Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan [Hardcover]

Lu Chi Fa (Author), Becky White (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Tells the story of the author's struggles after being orphaned at the age of three and how he held on to his dream of coming to the United States as he passed from one relative to another and was even sold to a Communist couple.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Currently the owner of a restaurant in California, Lu looks back on a life that reflects China's tumultuous recent history, from wars and famine to Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. Orphaned at three, Chi Fa grows up amid hardships that will be scarcely imaginable to American readers. "Chi Fa, you are lucky. Good fortune will find you," his beloved Sister tells him when, yielding to her husband, she abandons him on another sibling's doorstep. The boy is shunted among his relatives, sold to strangers and eventually rescued from them by Sister; he is beaten, starved and forced to beg. At 12, he survives a dangerous trek to freedom in Hong Kong, where an elderly man to whom he gives food fuels his dreams of emigrating to America ("In America people eat three times a day. In America they are too full to swallow sorrow"), a dream he finally realizes at 20. The first-person narrative is pedestrian and even plodding in parts ("An important thing I forgot to mention is China's class system"), but readers who are not put off by the prose will be impressed by Chi Fa's perseverance, intelligence and goodness of heart. Photos not seen by PW. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-10-The power of positive thinking is amply demonstrated in this moving memoir. Born in the turmoil of the Sino-Japanese war in China's Jiangsu province and orphaned at age three, young Chi Fa ("new beginning") had more new beginnings than any child should have to face. He was passed from relative to relative and finally sold to a Communist village chief who treated him badly. Rescued by his sister 18 months later, he was returned to his unwelcoming relatives. At nine years old, he was the caretaker for a mute epileptic and then sent to Shanghai to join the brother and the family who had first sold him. In time, they ended up in Kowloon, where, for nearly three years, Chi Fa supported them by begging, until an aunt arranged for them all to migrate to Taiwan. For the first time in his life, at 13, he went to school, but after a year, he was pulled out to work. He contributed to that family until he was conscripted into the Taiwanese army. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States, following a dream he had had for 14 years. The strength of this book is in the clarity of Chi Fa's personal story, his optimism and determination in the face of incredible adversity. The grinding poverty of daily life in China is clear. Less trustworthy is his understanding of geography and politics of the world beyond his family. Such errors make this touching story somewhat less convincing.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 212 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1st edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823415600
• ISBN-13: 978-0823415601
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Children's Books > Biographies > Political
  • #18 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Chinese
  • #49 in Books > Children's Books > Biographies > People of Color

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan, August 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan (Hardcover)

I loved Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan because the boy, Chi Fa, was so brave and he never stopped believing in his lifelong dream. Chi Fa and all the people in the book were so real I felt I knew them well. After his parents died, Chi Fa's life was one hard adventure after another. He endured being cold and nearly starving, having to move every time he found a place to sleep, and risking his life to flee the Communist takeover of China. Through everything, he remained a kind person who remembered the people who had loved him. When Chi Fa wished on the Orphan Star in the sky, I very much wanted his dream to come true. It was exciting for me to read from one chapter to the next and I didn't want to put the book down. I intend to lend the book to my teacher and I hope she will ask our librarian to get a copy for my school.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A MUST read for students/teachers to their students, March 8, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book. I could not put it down. As a former teacher, I would have definitely read this to my class with a discussion to follow each reading. Hopefully, the children would get the message of perserverance, hope, hardship and injustice which was overcome to accomplish a dream. My only disappointment was that I want to know more about Chi Fa's life when he arrived in America. What kinds of things he did to succeed, how his past impacted his foundation of success and something more of his family life as it is today. Sadly, the book only covered his pre-America days. I am hoping for another book by this author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan, August 10, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan (Hardcover)

Every day we hear about the countless children of the world who have no parents, no homes and who suffer the pain of constant hunger. Lu Chi Fa and Becky White have brought one of those children vividly to life in Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan.

The orphan boy, Chi Fa, is anything BUT a tragic character. His optimism, his love of life and the joy he derives from simple things, such as tasting a peach for the first time, light up every page. He shows maturity and courage far beyond his years as he faces many life-threatening situations. Along with the story of a remarkably courageous boy, we are given descriptions of a beautiful country and an insight into the customs of the Chinese people.

I read the book aloud to my 8 and 10-year-old granddaughters in just two days because they kept insisting on "just one more chapter". All of us enjoyed a truly exciting book with memorable characters. It would be almost impossible to read Double Luck, Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan without being personally uplifted.