Red Scarf Girl

Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang
2004
Weight: 7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

This book was written for young adults at a time when I was no longer a young adult so I had not heard of it until I was working in the children's department of Barnes and Noble.  I did not know a lot about China's Cultural Revolution so I thought what better place to start than with a young adult book and then I could work my way up...just like I did with so many other topics in life.

Before giving it away, I reread it.  It made my heart feel heavy, sad, and a little worried.  Reading about families, friends, and neighbors turning on each other and thinking of Trump's America left me feeling slightly nauseated and my head was foggy.  How many times and in how many places do we have to create propaganda-filled societies of hate before we learn?  Do we never learn?  Will we fight this one off?

In this one Communism goes wrong but in our story it will be Capitalism.  All societies and systems have their weaknesses.