Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Kimberly and her mother immigrate to NewYork after Kimberly's father dies in Hong Kong.  They are indebted to Kimberly's Aunt Paula who arranged for green cards and has paid bills for them.  Working long hard hours in a sweat shop and living in a condemned unheated apartment with vermin and roaches, life is difficult.  In Hong Kong, Kimberly was an excellent student who struggles now with the English language and such a different culture.  Eventually, her intelligence is recognized and she is accepted into a private school.  Life is demanding but Kimberly is clever and excels.  Her relationships with boys lead to unexpected choices.  Her relationship with her mother and the Chinese culture portrayed throughout this book are interesting and keep you wondering what will happen next.  I listened to this as an audio book and enjoyed the narrator.  This is a young people's book but I feel it will interest adults as well.