Maxine "Ting Ting" Hong Kingston grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Stockton, California. Born in 1940 to Tom Hong and Brave Orchid, Kingston is the oldest of her parents' six American-born children. Kingston's parents serve as the primary sources for the imaginative stories she writes.

Kingston's father came to America as a scholar and teacher but made his early living in this country washing windows, and later, as part owner in a New York laundry. After losing his share of the business, Hong relocated in 1940 to Stockton, California, to manage an illegal gambling business. Brave Orchid, who had just joined her husband in America, accompanied him. Until World War II, Hong alternately ran gambling houses and suffered arrests for it. After the war, Hong opened his own laundry and provided a good life for his Chinese- American family. Hong told his daughter little about his life...