Chapter 15: Boarding School in Tianjin Summary and Analysis

Without explaining where she was going, Niang and her father drove her to St. Joseph's School, where she had kindergarten. She was there again, but this time as a boarder. Sadly, when her father had to fill out papers for the flight to Tianjin, he couldn't remember her given name or her birth date. Neither her father or Niang told her good-bye. The next morning she woke up in the bright room and met Nancy Chen, who was in the bed next to her. Nancy's mother asked what was wrong with Adeline's parents leaving a child alone in a dangerous situation—the Communists would soon be invading and arresting all the capitalists. That explained to Adeline why the large school that could house a thousand students only had one hundred.

The student...