Defying China

In this unflinching memoir, activist Dolma teams up with Hsieh to detail Dolma’s experiences growing up in late-20th-century Tibet under the control of the People’s Republic of China. Vivid language transports readers to the Kham region, where Dolma, 11, dreams of following a river that flows past her village, Pelbar Dzong, to escape from the pressure of her family’s financial strain and her community’s insistence that she perform traditionally female responsibilities, such as marrying when she turns 14. As the narrative unfolds chronologically, Dolma ventures beyond Pelbar Dzong, first on a pilgrimage with her father to Lhasa and later to continue her education as a Buddhist nun, which leads to her participating in the Tibetan independence movement against the PRC. Gruesome descriptions capture the torture, bodily injury, sexual and physical assault, and gun violence Dolma and other Tibetan activists endure throughout the independence movement. A contextualizing author’s note provides present-day information on the continued fight for freedom and human rights in Tibet. Ages 14–up. Agent: (for Hsieh) Claire Draper, Au Literary Management. (Mar.)