Throwaway Daughter

by Ting-xing Ye, William Bell (Contributor)

A dramatic and moving YA novel by Ting-xing Ye, the internationally acclaimed author of A Leaf in the Bitter Wind , working with her husband, William Bell, author of the award-winning novels for young adults Forbidden City , Zack , and Stones .
.
Throwaway Daughter tells the dramatic and moving story of Grace Dong-mei Parker, a typical Canadian teenager until the day she witnesses the Tiananmen massacre on television. Horrified, she sets out to explore her Chinese ancestry, only to discover that she was one of the thousands of infant girls abandoned in China since the introduction of the one-child policy, strictly enforced by the Communist government. But Grace was one of the lucky ones, adopted as a baby by a loving Canadian couple.

With the encouragement of her adoptive parents, she studies Chinese and travels back to China in search of her birth mother. She manages to locate the village where she was born, but at first no one is willing to help her. However, Grace never gives up and, finally, she is reunited with her birth mother, discovering through this emotional bond the truth of what happened to her almost twenty years before.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, China, Contemporary, Canada, Adoption

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 15, 2003

About the author

Ting-xing Ye, author of the best-selling memoir, A Leaf in the Bitter Wind, was born in Shanghai, China, in 1952, the fourth of five children born to a factory owner and his wife. At sixteen she was “sent down” to a prison farm during the Cultural Revolution, spending six years there before being admitted to Beijing University. She took a degree in English Literature, then began a seven year career as English interpreter for the national government in Shanghai. Ye came to Canada in 1987. She has been a child-care worker, bank clerk, and secretary. She published her first picture book in 1998. She also writes Young Adult fiction and non-fiction.

Reviews

[Mark Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to tell the truth, it's best to tell it in a story. Facts are static and just get in the way. And the novel The Throwaway Daughter tells many truths about the nature of chinese adoption on both a micro and macro level. Still, it is important to remember that this is fiction, and uses all of the creative licenses as such.

If you have an investment or connection to adoption from China, I would say this is a 5 star novel. The description of the novel does not do it justice and is inaccurate. Only about 40% of the novel is told from the point of view of the girl, (and then young woman) adopted from China. The rest of the novel is told from the first person point of view of the rest of the players-- the adoptive mother, the birth mother, the birth mothers family, the birth fathers family, and the woman who took in the abandoned child and worked to get her adopted. I saw none of them being made villians, but some are made saints.

The writing is clever, nifty, and most importantly doesn't get in the way of an incredible story. And the writer took some chances with this novel for sure. Taking the incredible dynamic of Chinese adoption, which I find both tragic and miraculous, and making an ending that is a near fairy-tale despite the cultural and societal horrors. And the words and perspectives of Dong-mei's view towards her birth mother are sure to raise discussion. The novel did bring me to tears at times. To me, it did what a novel is supposed to do... it made me look forward to reading it, captured me, and made me think about it and reflect long after it was over.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "Throwaway Daughter" in one sitting; I could not put it down! This YA historical fiction takes on and succeeds in portraying the impact of the Chinese One-Child Policy on a family and the ensuing international adoption. The novel presents the story of a Chinese child who was abandoned and subsequently adopted into a Canadian family in 1980. We see the event through the eyes of the adoptive mother, the biological grandfather, father and mother, as well as an adoption worker. The primary perspective is from the eyes of Dong-Mei/Grace Parker who at the age of 19 travels to China to explore her roots.

It is the best depiction of the societal pressures placed on families giving birth to daughters during the One-Child Policy that I have ever read. The book also describes the angst of internationally adopted teens as they confront their identity as an adopted child, an Asian-American, and a person of color lovingly raised in an entitled white family, and the gnawing question - why was I given up?

I highly recommend the book. I listened to it on audible.com, and the narration was impeccably delivered by multiple readers.

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annotation written in March 2014.

A Canadian family adopts Dong-Mei (Grace) from China in 1981. As a child, Grace wants nothing to do with her Chinese heritage (despite encouragement from her family) because she believes her Chinese parents did not want her. Grace’s view gradually change after accidentally witnessing the Tiananmen Square Massacre on television, and she visits China after graduating high school to look for her birth family. The story is narrated from multiple perspectives, including Grace, orphanage worker Mrs. Xia, both of Grace’s birth parents, and Grace’s paternal birth grandfather. The different narrators provide the cultural, historical and personal background that contributes to Grace’s abandonment, as well as different perspectives on China’s one-child policy and the expectations of women.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

And easy to read, informative novel of adoption from China as a result of the "one child" policy. Interesting characters, great descriptions and well done, dual storylines.

[Pooker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was an easy read and a very interesting story. Grace Parker, now a teenager in the story, was abandoned as a new-born on the steps of a Chinese orphanage. She was adopted by a middle-class Canadian couple. Her adoptive parents do not hide the fact that she was adopted and, in fact, encourage her to learn about her culture.

As a child and young teenager, Grace has absolutely no interest in learning about her origins. In fact, she resents her parents' encouragement to do so. She has only feelings of anger and hurt toward her natural mother, whom Grace believes did not want her.

As might be expected though, as Grace gets older she does start to wonder just who she is and where she came from. She feels loved by her adoptive family, yet being a "person of colour" knows she just doesn't fit. So, she decides to go to business school in China and, hopefully, find and confront her mother.

The interesting thing about this story, is that it is told from the perspective of several narrators including Grace herself, Grace's adoptive mother (who, as also might be expected, despite encouraging her daughter to learn of her roots, feels threatened when Grace decides to do so) Grace's birth mother (Chun-Mei), Mrs. Xia (the woman who risked falsifying documents & passing on information to protect the baby girl), Grace's half-brother in China, her father and paternal grandfather. All of them provide some cultural perspective on how, in China, baby girls could be less valued than sons and abandoned or even killed by their families.

[Katrina Hamel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left me with the feeling that I had a peek into another culture, time, and place. I enjoyed the story immensely, especially seeing through the different eyes of the four main characters to feel the drama from all the different angles. There is one description of a cultural delicacy that still has me gagging, but I loved seeing both the beauty and heartbreak of China through the author’s eyes.

There is some swearing in the story, and vivid descriptions of child abandonment, so not appropriate for younger readers.

[Sinead Anja (Huntress of Diverse Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out my book blog for more book reviews and other bookish posts!

I don’t read many books with adopted MCs, so Throwaway Daughter had an intriguing premise. I read this book for Asian Lit Bingo. The MC is Chinese Canadian and goes on a journey to find out more about her birth family and her country of origin.

It’s #ownvoices.

__

The story is told from various different perspectives, however the bulk of the story is told through Grace. I thought this was a very efficient way of writing the story as we get to understand how the different people decided to act the way they did, how tradition and culture influenced their decisions, and how their actions impacted Grace’s life. It also allowed for the reader to truly get their opinion on subjects and not Grace’s opinion on what the person might think. This led to a well-rounded story, where all the questions that had cropped up during my reading were answered by the end of the book.

It’s not a very action-based novel but rather character-focussed, which absolutely fits to the blurb so I wasn’t disappointed. It focusses both on her external journey towards finding her family as well as her internal journey of finding out who she herself really is. It’s a book that places a great emphasis on self-discovery. How the internal and external journeys influenced each other, was very interesting to read about.

My favourite quote (because it made me laugh out loud was):

“So the “emperor’s relatives” as my father called them ended up sleeping on the new bed […]”

There was one sex-worker-shaming phrase, which wasn’t called out.

__

Throwaway Daughter was beautiful and heart-wrenching. I’m very happy that I read this book. It’s very sad but also uplifting.

Trigger warnings: presumed death of infant, shooting of protestors, attempted suicide, ableism.

[Vinijaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel Throwaway Daughter by Ting Xing Ye is about a Chinese girl adopted by Canadian parents. Grace, the main character, changes from someone who does not care about her background to someone who wants to find out who she really is. The theme of identity is explored through style and character. The author, Ting Xing Ye, does an excellent job of illustrating this theme through the perspectives of different characters. The novel begins with Grace talking about how she came to be adopted, and then moves to her adopted mother’s perspective. Later in the novel, we also get chapters from other characters’ points of view: Loyal, her birth father, old revolutionary Chen, her grandfather, and most importantly, Chun-mei, her birth mother. This technique of showing the characters’ motivations helps us to understand the characters better, and makes us more sympathetic to them. For example, in the beginning of the novel, we assume that Chun-mei abandoned her daughter; however, as we read on, we realize that she actually cared. One year after giving her daughter to the adoption agency, she returns and tries to reclaim her daughter.
Another strong element of the novel is characterization. The characters all seemed very real and human. For example, Grace, because she is adopted, feels abandoned by her birth parents and she says, “I didn’t know my date of birth. Yangzhou was the city where the orphanage was situated, but my actual place of birth was a big mystery as the date” (Ye 37-38). She also feels different because she is the Chinese daughter of a white family. As a result, she felt that she did not belong. This is very true for a lot of adopted children who feel that they do not really know who they are. Grace’s Canadian parents are portrayed sympathetically. They treat her exactly in the same way as their birth daughter, and they try to help her in every way possible including going to China to find her birth parents. Grace’s birth mother is also portrayed sympathetically. We see how upset she was when she has to give her daughter, even leaving a small tag with her daughter in the hope that one day they would be reunited.
Finally, the author does a good job of examining the issue of identity. This novel is about Grace gradually finding out who she really is and what her background is. The writer shows us that Grace is not interested at first, but when she sees the television program about Tienanmien Square, Grace starts to think about where she came from. At this point, she talks to her mother about going to China. The writer shows how Grace changes from somebody who does not care at first to somebody who wants to find out.
Although, the different perspectives in the novel give us a strong sense of what the characters are like, occasionally the different perspectives make the novel confusing. For example, during Grace’s conversation with her birth father and his second wife, the chapter ends with Grace asking, “You mean she’s dead?” (Ye 218) and getting the response, “It’s too late” (Ye 218). This chapter then ends suddenly, and we are left wondering what happened to Chun-mei, but we do not find out because the novel then moves to the perspective of Old Revolutionary Chen. At this point, it would have been better for the author to complete the story of what happened to Chun-mei. There are other sections of the novel where the author could have written it differently.
Throwaway Daughter, is a novel for young adults and older. The style is too complex for somebody who is younger. For example, children might find it confusing as the story switches from one perspective to another, as it will be hard to understand what is going on. As well, the language level is too complex for youngsters, and is more suited to an older audience.
Also, the theme of identity is really important for young adults who at this point in their lives choose courses and their future paths. Also, many of us do not know as much as we would like about our background. Since family will not always be there with us, it is essential to find information as soon as possible.
This is a novel that will appeal to both male and female readers because it is the story of an adopted child that everyone can relate to. This novel can help us to understand what it is like to be adopted. For children who have been adopted, the novel will feel real.
This novel, will appeal to people who are interested in history because it is about a very important time in Chinese history when the government had the one child policy. “In the old days, girl babies were put away because of poverty, shame or some other reason” (Ye 265). Since it was a one baby policy, usually the girls were abandoned in the hopes of having a male child.
Throwaway Daughter is an excellent novel about two very important issues: the fate of all those Chinese baby girls who were given up by their family, and the universal issue of identity which is important to everyone. Ting-Xing-Ye creates a very believable and sympathetic character in Grace, and it is through her journey of discovery that we learn so much about that period in Chinese history, and about the need to know who we are.

[Vivian_E1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throwaway Daughter by Ting- xing Ye is a historical fiction novel. This book is about a Chinese female orphan who was abandoned by her biological family in the late 1800's and early 1900's. After an event in Beijing, she goes out and tries to find her parents in China and why they abandoned her.

[Calvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published as a young-adult novel (it could also have been published as an adult novel). Since I was teaching at the time, I resourced the school librarian. She recommended that I read this book, because at the time I was working with students in an English as a Second Language class (E.S.L.) and needed a teaching tool that might be culturally specific to the majority of Mandarin speaking students in the class. I liked the theme and plot, also the fact that the author herself was from China, (the fact that she is married and collaborated with one of Canada's well know young adult authors, William Bell, of whom I had used two of Bell's novels, "Stones", and "Forbidden City"), understanding the culture at the time, she gave the main character, Grace Dong-mei Parker, a real person feel. The two narrative approach, the mother and the adopted child, gave it a two pronged approach to the two cultures; her adopted home Canadian VS her natural home China.

The story was not a page-turner; I wasn't looking for a thrill ride, but rather something that would generate some discussion. This book generated lots of discussion, (in English), about what happens in China then and now. Nothing generates discussion with teenagers than controversy, it doesn't matter what culture it is, especially if they can relate and have an opinion on the subject. (if you find yourself teaching E.S.L. and the majority of your student speak Mandarin, a good teaching tool for generating discussion is William Bell's "Forbidden City"). As an aside, there were parts of “Throwaway Daughter”, i.e. language and hidden inferences, to be difficult for even the senior level E.S.L students. The purpose of the book is to teach English, using language they are going to confront in later grades as well as university. The readings, in many situations, were long and arduous, but in the end it did what it was suppose to do.

I enjoyed reading the book and found it to be enlightening as to how parents in China, who have a second child, deal with the dilemma. I had no difficulty completing this novel and really did enjoy the writing style. The narrative flowed and allowed you be involved in the life of the family, the mother and daughter. It took you along on the journey with both of them, not getting overly complicated in the rhetoric.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this novel was a national bestseller and was shortlisted for the White Pine Young Readers' Choice Award, it was a powerful, dramatic and mesmerizing story. At 295 pages, I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting in a couple of hours. This easily could have been printed as an adult fiction as well. The writing reminds me of novels by Gail Tsukiyama and Lisa See.

The author, Ting-Xing Ye, was born in Shanghai, China in 1952 and was an interpreter for the Chinese government. She left China in 1987 to come to Canada and now lives in Orillia, Ontario.

From back cover:

"As far as I was concerned...my Chinese roots could rot in hell.

Abandoned on the steps of a Chinese orphanage and adopted by a Canadian family, Grace Parker is haunted by the cold fact that she was unwanted, and she spurns her Chinese heritage - until the day she witnesses, on television, the massacre of student protestors in Beijing's Tinanmen Square.

Thus begins Grace's personal journey, a quest that takes her to China in search of her birth parents, and leads to a discovery that will change her life forever.

Dramatic and moving, THROWAWAY DAUGHTER tells the story of what it means to find yourself alone even as you know you are loved."

[Holly Fife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely educational & heartbreaking. Women are everything!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly moving and powerful story about a Chinese daughter forced from her mother and put up for adoption so the family would still have a chance for a son. Told across timelines, countries and multiple POVs. We get to see how this heartbreaking decision had ripple effects on so many lives and generations. Great on audio and my first by Canadian author Ting-xing Ye. Highly recommended!

[Candice Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, easy read very suitable for young adults. I felt Grace's transition into a mature teenager was super abrupt but other than that it was good.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Hajar ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
A very insightful look into the one child policy in China and an easy read.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Throwaway Daughter" was a puzzling book for me. The main character is Grace Dong-mei Parker, a Chinese-Canadian adoptee whose attitude towards the country of her birth changes during her adolescence. When she graduates from high school, she goes back to China, to try to find her parents, but particularly her mother.

It was puzzling to me because I kept having to remind myself that it was fictional. Ting-xing Ye left China as an adult in 1987, and has settled in Ontario, Canada. I don't know why my brain kept defaulting to "memoir": perhaps because that's the genre I'm used to from Chinese authors. Which ~sigh~.

But anyway. I enjoyed the structure, even though at times it seemed a little scattered (some characters had more than one pov section, while others had only one). I certainly enjoyed the diversity of points of view, especially Jane Parker, Old Revolutionary Chen, and Xia Mama. I loved Grace/Dong-mei's conclusions on the idea of heroism; and I really appreciated the multiple glimpses given of Jane Parker and Chen-mei, the two mothers.

I think the fact that I read another GoodReads review before I finished the book coloured my response to it: that review was seeing the book as problematic, because it made finding birth parents "too easy". I guess I read it more as a commentary on the One Child policy, as well as the changes in China since the death of Mao. And on both those points I found it absorbing. I just wish I could have more easily read it as fiction rather than as memoir, given that it really clearly is fiction. ~thwaps brain~

The cover credit for the book is "Ting-xing Ye with William Bell". I wish there was more of an explanation of that in the book - after a lot of googling, I finally worked out that Bell is Ye's husband, and that they tend to work together. I also discovered that Bell was originally approached to write this book, but that Ye took it on instead.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

How would you feel if you were unwanted, just because you were a girl? A throwaway daughter. Ting-xing Ye tells the story of how an adopted, Chinese girl makes her way from Canada to China in search of her real parents.

Grace Dong-mei Parker was adopted at birth by a Canadian family. Throughout her life, she longs to know who her parents are and sets off on a journey to find them. Throwaway Daughter goes through everyone’s perspective of how they became parents, siblings or just acquaintances of Dong-mei. This is sometimes confusing to read because you may not be sure of who is talking. Each chapter is told at a different time period and goes back and forth between years. This can also be puzzling at times.

While Dong-mei is in China, she meets a woman named Mrs. Xia. Mrs. Xia is my fravourite character because, even though she is not a main character, she plays a big role in Dong-mei’s life. Mrs. Xia is an elderly woman who is very fragile and does not speak English but is still a loud, active person. She helps Dong-mei’s adoptive parents and gives them an insight into Dong-mei’s background.

People who have ever experienced feeling unwanted or unloved should read this book and compare their lives to Dong-mei’s. It may give the feeling of gratitude to what they have. People who want an emotional, moving story should also read this book. It may bring them to tears.

I think this story is well written but slightly confusing. Ting-xing Ye grasps and understands how it feels to be unwanted. Her book shows how big of an impact family can have on you and the importance of knowing who you are and where you’re from.

[Seosaimhthin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't give this a particularly high rating because there is better adoption text out there and this, as a fiction, has significant flaws. The beginning of the book is of the most value. We meet Grace, Chinese-Canadian adoptee. Her mother, to, in her words, 'preserve her heritage', insists on calling her Dong-Mei at home, something Grace finds annoying as she shows little interest in China and has never been. She grows up, however, when viewing the Tianamen Sq massacres on TV and, as she suddenly (and not wholly convincingly) embraces her Chineseness, the book takes its downwards spiral. She picks up Mandarin with ease and decides to fly to China and search for her birth mother, a task that is bizarrely aided by locals who always seem to know just the distant relative or person she is asking for.

The chances of adoptees finding their birth parents is minimal; babies are left anonymously as discovery can lead at best, to family shame and at worst, imprisonment or fines. They may have travelled from rural villages without records or from people who, if they are unregistered children themselves, have no records either. The book makes the process look easy. I worry it could give false hope to anyone considering their birth parents. Narrowing one's home down to a village or town is not a case of a gathering of 30 people; it could contain 3 million. Although Grace's voice is a good one, her character strong, I feel the ending of the book was too over-simplistic of a complex issue.

[Hag of the Dribble · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You can't be two people at the same time not without ending up in a mental institution. I'm not just Grace Parker. I've accepted that. I wasn't born at Soldiers' Memorial. I was unwanted by my so called real parents. That's the hard part, like a toothache that won't go away. They got rid of me.”

Grace was adopted as a very young baby and has grown up in Canada without giving much thought to her Chinese heritage. She never really saw what the “big deal” was about the Chinese culture that she was never part of. One day, Grace sees the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 on the television and wonders about the people on the TV that look like her. Her negativity toward all that is Chinese eventually turns to curiosity and upon the completion of High School, her parents support her trip to China. Initially she wants to go so she can blame her birth parents for her current predicament of “being two people” but it turns into a journey of maturity and cultural awakening.

The story alternates between Grace’s life in the present and the life of her birth parents in China before and up to the point when she was born. The abandonment of Grace by her birth parents and the abandonment of Grace’s mother by patriarchal China illustrate a shared experience that adeptly ties the two stories together. This is a great book for schools and parents to use to open up discussion about cultural issues and cross-culture adoptions.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to tell the truth, its best to tell it in a story. Facts are static and just get in the way. And the story of The Throwaway Daughter told many truths about the nature of chinese adoption on both a micro and macro level.

If you have an investment or connection to adoption from China, this is a definite 5 star novel. The description of the novel does not do it justice and is
inaccurate. Only about 40% of the novel is told form the point of view of the girl, and then young woman, adopted from China. The rest of the novel is told from the
first person point of view of the rest of the players-- the adoptive mother, the birth mother, the birth mothers family, the birth fathers family, and the woman who took in the abandoned child and worked to get her adopted. None of them are vilified, but some are saintified

The writing is clever, nifty, and most importantly doesn't get in the way of an incredible story. And the writer took some chances with this novel for sure. Taking an incredible dynamic of adoption, which I find both tragic and miraculous, and making an ending that is a near fairy-tale, and the words and perspectives of Dong-mei's view towards her birth mother are sure to raise discussion.

[Saralena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
This book is about an adopted Chinese girl, Grace, and her struggle between her Chinese heritage and the relationship with her mother. At first, Grace wants nothing to do with her past or old family, but slowly, over the years, her curiosity grows into longing and she decides to go study in China. Last minute, she decides that she wants to try and find her mother, who mysteriously dropped her off on the steps of an orphanage oh-so long ago.

Opinion:
I really, really enjoyed this book, mostly because of the different perspectives in it. The story is told through Grace's point of view, as well as her adoptive mother, and real mother and grandfather back in China. There not really any action in the book, but at the same time the story doesn't feel like it's lagging on or slow in anyway.

I think no one younger than highschoolers should read this book, in my opinion. Though I bought it when I was in grade 7 and tried to read it, I didn't fully understand all the darker and more serious themes and situations it deals with. Also, this book would be a good read for anyone interested in Chinese culture or history, or even anyone who is adopted themselves and would like a great story to relate to.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great- if you can handle the harsh reality of life. Throwaway daughter is about one chinese girls quest to stray from her adopted Canadien family and find her originale family. What this young girl learns on the way is not always for the best. She learns things about herself that she never knew and about the love story gone wrong of her birth parents. Being sheilded from the chinese culture at an early age she does not know the fate of many girls, in fact she is lucky to be alive. You should read this book- if your ready for an eye opener.

[Mrsgaskell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dong-mei, who prefers to be called by her English name Grace, was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a Chinese orphanage. Adopted by a Canadian couple and their older daughter, she rejected her Chinese heritage in spite of their encouraging her to embrace it. Eventually, however, she travels to China in search of her roots. This was a very interesting novel, and told not only from Grace’s point of view but those of her family, including relatives in China, as well. The author was born in Shanghai and writes about China with understanding.

[Angelsouth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of one of China's "throwaway daughters", a baby girl abandoned by her mother at an orphanage and adopted by a Canadian couple who have an elder daughter. The early sections of the novel which deal with Grace's difficulties in reconciling her identity are very interesting though Grace as an adult is less sharply drawn. Her background is affecting but not sentimental and I found the majority of the characters to be convincing and well drawn. Her elder sister Megan, although appearing only briefly, is the most convincing.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in Asian or Chinese culture, this is a good read for you. Based on a true story about a Chinese-Canadian woman, this book really lets you see into the world of child adoption from China. You will also be taken into the realities of the one-child policy that exists in China today and learn of the hushed social practices that accompany this law.

Really good read - insightful, revealing, emotional. I really recommend it.

[Sophie Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and light read, but it was very enlightening. A great comprehensive historical-realistic fiction about communism, coming of age, and a journey of searching for the truth. It opened my eyes to a lot of things I never really thought about, and definitely has made me more considerate of my parents! I've heard many stories, but I can't even begin to imagine what it was like to grow up in that era...

[Sonia Jarmula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seems to have been found in a dusty attic, as a diary of remembrance. It has been dragged and tattered through lives searching mysterious answers, executing the impossible. Throwaway Daughter may be a work of fiction, but it has touched hearts in a way that shows you the impossible can be done.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

National Bestseller. It tells the story of a girl who is born in China but ends up in an orphanage becasue she was a girl. She was adoptied by a Canadian family. She then goes back years later to find her real parents. The book gives us a look into each persons reasons for "throwing away the daughter". Very nicely done.

[Victoria Ariwita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its about a chinese girl, adopted by western parent, live in Canada, then try to find her real parent. She was adopted as a result of China Government regulation, to avoid and abandon female children in the family. Nice on to read.