THE COOKED SEED : A MEMOIR
by Anchee Min

On August 31, 1984, Anchee Min landed in Chicago scared to death. She didn't speak English and only had five hundred dollars which was borrowed. Anchee had been accepted to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and had lied on her application. She had circled "Excellent" for English. (Someone else filled out the papers for her.)
Upon arrival in the United States, when the immigration officer welcomed her, Anchee didn't understand a word that he said. A translator told her that she was going to be deported immediately. After examining everything, a clause was discovered in the papers that the school was going to place her in an intensive language learning program. If after six months she still wasn't up to par, back to China she would go.
Anchee had to pay for the course and it was a total waste of time. She learned nothing and got out of it. Television became the means of learning English, primarily Sesame Street. In order to keep herself afloat, she worked five jobs and slept in desolate areas to save money.
Her struggle to survive both in Communist China and in America and her sheer determination, stamina, and strength made Anchee quite successful.
The Cooked Seed is an immigrant story that should be read universally. Those of us who were born and raised in the United States and take things for granted should learn what went on during the Cultural Revolution and Anchee explicitly describes the horrors and deprivation of living under Mao.
Anchee was extremely lucky to leave China.
This book is honest, revealing, eye-opening, and full of grit.
Recommended.