China

Qian’s parents were born and raised in northern China, and Qian lived there from birth until age seven. Qian’s grandparents were persecuted under the regime of Mao Zedong, and her parents often felt confined by the strict governmental regime under which they lived. Although Qian’s parents were comfortably middle-class, they decided to move to America, since they thought that they would have more freedom and better opportunities there.

New York City

After leaving China, Qian and her parents moved to Brooklyn, a neighborhood of New York City. There, they struggled with poverty, they lived in highly subpar apartments, and they had insufficient access to food and healthcare. Qian received a subpar education until she gained admission to a magnet school. Eventually, she moves to Canada.

Canada

At the end of the memoir, Qian recalls moving to Canada with her mother. Qian was about eleven...