"I was born on Chinese New Year. Carefully, my parents chose my name: Ji-li, meaning lucky and beautiful. They hoped that I would be the happiest girl in the world. And I was."

Thus begins Ji-li Jiang's moving memoir of growing up in China during the decade of the Cultural Revolution, Red Scarf Girl. Unlike many other little girls, Ji-li was happy not only because she was well loved and excelled in school, but also because "I never doubted what I was told: `Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao.'" Jiang's memoir takes the reader--from the viewpoint of an adolescent girl--into the difficult years 1966 to 1976 in China. The book takes its name from the red scarf which Jiang so proudly wore as a Young Pioneer, a dedicated young...