Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Great Call of China

There is a great new book that just got released called The Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu. I've ordered my copy and am happy to share with you a little movie that the wonderful author, Cynthea, produced for the book.
What I love about this movie is that it is so very meaningful to me and my children, growing up Asian American in the U.S. Sometimes identity can be all mixed up and culture lost. Like Cynthea in this video, I too had my cultural identity moment when I was a teenager. It happens to most of us growing up with immigrant parents. Trying too hard to assimilate and one day realizing that there was a whole other culture we should have been embracing. And here is also the heart of her book The Great Call of China which is a fabulous title. It is about an adopted teen who journeys to China and finds herself. So please enjoy the movie and don't forget to pick up a copy of Cynthea's book for the teen in your life!

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13 comments:

  1. Spy ScribblerFebruary 20, 2009 at 1:20 AM

    Wow! Absolutely FANTASTIC video! I want to give that book to my niece! (Not from China, but Pakistan.)

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  2. pacatrueFebruary 20, 2009 at 2:44 AM

    Wonderful book trailer. Ethnicity is a fascinating thing. Let's just say that. :) And I love the song selection for the tune. Great choice due to the issues at play in the movie. It's going to kill me until I remember the original (?), but I know it's an 80s British pop tune.... now in Mandarin.

    Good luck, Cynthea!

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  3. Kelly PolarkFebruary 20, 2009 at 9:06 AM

    I watched this movie on Cynthea's site yesterday. The music was perfect, and the movie about brought me to tears.

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  4. Charles GramlichFebruary 20, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    It definitely must be interesting to have two very different cultures in your background.

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  5. Steve MalleyFebruary 20, 2009 at 3:44 PM

    Just occurred to me that if I ever have kids, *they'll* have your immigrant-parent issues! Neat...

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  6. BarrieFebruary 20, 2009 at 7:41 PM

    I get to meet Cynthia in September!

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  7. BarrieFebruary 20, 2009 at 7:43 PM

    And hopefully by then I will have learned to spell her name!! CYNTHEA!!

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  8. out of the wordworkFebruary 20, 2009 at 9:45 PM

    Wow, great trailer! Cynthia's story really resonated with me. I'm a child of immigrant parents too - Portuguese and growing up in a very small, rural Canadian town. The experience of the child of immigrant parents may be unique to that individual but there are definitely common feelings. Feeling different from your peers even in the tiniest ways never feels very good when you're growing up. I wish Cynthia all the best with this book.

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  9. cindyFebruary 21, 2009 at 5:36 PM

    totally awesome! really excited for cynthea!!!

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  10. AnonymousFebruary 21, 2009 at 5:43 PM

    Aw, everyone! Thanks for the support. Really. Truly. And you can spell my name any way you please, with these super comments!

    Now I'm off to go weep again.

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  11. Merry MonteleoneFebruary 21, 2009 at 9:44 PM

    Forget the teens in my life, I want to read it... okay, I'm only slightly selfish - I can save it for a few years until my daughter can read it, too.

    It looks amazing, Cynthea. Thanks for the heads up, Ello.

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  12. Mary WitzlFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:02 PM

    That was a fantastic video!

    We're all eggy pancakes here ourselves. And when I say "California," people always say, "No, really -- where did you come from before that?"

    That shot of Cynthia in her class is like the mirror image of my kids' class photographs. I ought to post theirs sometime...

    And my daughter wants to know who the singer is. She's hoping to find it on YouTube.

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  13. laughingwolfFebruary 23, 2009 at 1:47 PM

    that's BRILLIANT, thx for this, el... and kudos, cynthea, an amazing way to intro your fab book :D

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