Part 2, Jing-Mei Woo, "Two Kinds" Summary

Jing-Mei Woo's mother came to America believing one could be anything, including rich and instantly famous. She arrived in 1949 after losing everything in China - her parents, home, first husband, and her twin baby girls. She never looked back because her life could only get better. She tries to implement her own dreams through her daughter Jing-Mei.

First, she tries to turn Jing-Mei into a Chinese Shirley Temple, taking her to a beauty training school for a permanent done by a new student. Instead of big fat curls, Jing-Mei has an uneven mass of crinkly black fuzz. The school's instructor gives her into a Peter Pan type hair cut. Every night after dinner, her mother gives Jing-Mei another aptitude test from a magazine and reads her stories about remarkable children. Jing-Mei fails miserably...