Coming-of-age story, historical novel and auto fiction (or biography). Lao Wen is a pseudonym. We follow her life from age of 8-9 till 19-20. She has difficult relationship with her mother, her father is distant due to trauma of “cultural revolution”. She loves her grandma and younger brother. She falls in love with reading because or friendship with bookshop’s owner. She has a boyfriend, wins money with her essay about memory and buys first television for the family. And eventually she participates in students’ protests of ‘89. As far as I remember it is also first book from Chinese(Canadian) author.