Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
    
          Kimberly Chang came from Hong Kong to the United States with her mother. Her aunt was already in the U.S., married with two sons. Kimberly and her mother lived in an apartment filled with rats and roaches and had no heat. Her mother worked in a factory where Kimberly also worked after school illegally. Despite her limited English, Kim gained a full scholarship to a prestigous private school. She later went to Yale and Harvard and became a doctor.
           I think Kim came of age when she realized that her mother was dependent on her to get them out of their situation. Mrs. Chang barely spoke English, so she couldn't try to get another job. She was stuck in the factory, stuck in the apartment, and stuck in the "well" she called it. If Kimberly succeeded, they wouldn't have to live off of an illegal salary. Kimberly made this discovery when she realized that her aunt was doing nothing tohelp them get out of the apartment. Jean Kwok demonstrated the mental blow it must've been for Kimberly when her aunt was angry that she got into Harrison Prep: "You're going to Harrison Prep? The two of you did this behind my back?". Her jealousy and anger became even more apparent when Kim got accepted to Yale: "You cannot go to Yeah-loo (the Cantonese prononciation of Yale)! I do not allow it!"
             If Kimberly lost sight of her goal, to escape her status, she may not have been able to change the way she and her mother lived. Kim showed her independence by finding a decent home for her mother, and by standing up to her selfish aunt. Kimberly was now a woman, because she was capable of taking matters into her own hands. She showed her maturity by taking a bad situation and turning it into a good one. This is something we all need to learn, whether or not we're in Yale, or poor- we're all capable of changing our situations. Kimberly didn't accept poverty, she fought against it, and she was victorious.