Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party

Description

Nine-year-old Ling is very comfortable in her life; her parents are both dedicated surgeons in the best hospital in Wuhan. But when Comrade Li, one of Mao’s political officers, moves into a room in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors and, soon, for herself and family. Over the course of four years, Ling manages to grow and blossom, even as she suffers more horrors than many people face in a lifetime.

Drawing from her childhood experience, Ying Chang Compestine brings hope and humor to this compelling story for all ages about a girl fighting to survive during the Cultural Revolution in China.

Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party is a 2008 Bank Street – Best Children’s Book of the Year.

Ying Chang Compestine grew up in China and now lives in California with her husband and son. She is the author of the young adult story collection A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts, as well as several picture books for children and cookbooks for adults.

Discussion Questions

1. The title of this book comes from a passage from Mao Tse-tung’s Little Red Book:

“A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gently, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous.”

Why do you think the author chose to take the title from this passage?

2. Why do you think Chairman Mao was so easily able to turn neighbors against neighbors during the Cultural Revolution?

3. Ling’s mother is able to sense early on that things in China are changing (on page 11, Ling notes that her mother had been in a bad mood for almost a year). What early indications does the author give that “danger [is] knocking on doors all over China”?

4. Why does Ling’s mother disapprove of so much of her behavior (page 15)? Why do you think Mother seems to Ling “like a proud white rose,” which Ling is “afraid to touch because of [the] thorns” (page 40)?

5. A propaganda film is a film produced (often by a government) to convince the viewer of a certain political point or influence the opinions or behavior of people. The Midnight Rooster in Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party (page 60) is an example of such a film. What effect did watching this film have on the students at Ling’s school? Why do you think Ling did not react to the film in the same way as her classmates?

6. What role does food play in the narrative of Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party? Why do you think food is so central to this book?

7. Ling’s understanding of what bourgeois means changes throughout the book. Based on the events of the novel, what did the word mean during China’s Cultural Revolution? Why was it bad for a family to be bourgeois?

8. Father chose to stay in China rather than go to America with Dr. Smith to help build a new China. The rally cry of Comarde Li’s Red Guard is also for a new China. Why are the two groups (people like Mother and Father and devotees of Chairman Mao) not able to work together to build a new China?

9. When Ling asks Mother why her family needs to hang so many portraits of Mao in their apartment (page 104), Mother explains, “It’s like the incense we burn in the summer to keep the mosquitos away.” What does she mean?

10. What does the Golden Gate Bridge represent to Ling and her family?

11. Mr. Ji, the antirevolutionary writer Ling and Father save, says “dark clouds have concealed the sun for too long” before he leaves their apartment (page 136). What does he mean?

12. What keeps Ling, Mother, and Father from losing hope like Mr. Ji and the baby doctor did?

13. Why does Father operate on Comrade Sin?

14. A simile is a literary device that uses like or as to compare two things. How does the author of Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party use similes throughought the book?

15. Can you think of a time in America’s history when the political atmosphere was like that in Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party? Why do you think people, no matter what country they live in, behave this way?

“* Readers should remain rapt by Compestine’s storytelling throughout this gripping account of life during China’s Cultural Revolution.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review“Laced in all the right places with humor, fury, fear, resolve and eventual relief, her childlike voice is carefully maintained over the sweep of four years–candid and credible, naive and nuanced.” —San Francisco Chronicle“This child’s-eye view of the Chinese Cultural Revolution is ultimately a tale of survival; lyrical yet gripping, accessible and memorable, it’s based on the author’s experiences. Certain to inspire discussion about freedom and justice.” —Kirkus Reviews“Authentic. . . . This semi-autobiographical novel comes alive with the author’s rich descriptions of the sights and smells of China at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.” —School Library Journal“In clipped lyrical sentences, Compestine’s first-person narrative sets a naïve child’s struggle to survive against betrayal and courage in one neighborhood and also the political panorama of spies and slogans.” —Booklist“Compestine does a good job giving young YA readers a realistic picture of what that period of history meant to individuals caught in the political nightmare. Certainly those with a Chinese heritage will find the story important to understand their own family history.” —KLIATT“Beautifully descriptive phrases allow this autobiographical fiction to come alive with the colors of the clothing that are lovingly sewn for Ling, the aromatic preparations of the food that is cooked, and the genuine appreciation of school, work, and valued neighbors. . . . The simple narrative is [refreshing] . . . in its youthful disbelief of the hardships that have befallen them in a changing political situation.” —Voice of Youth Advocates

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