Mona in the Promised Land

2:00--3:15pm Sun., Dec. 7 Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen In this rollicking coming-of-age tale, Mona Chang\u27s Chinese immigrant parents move their family to Westchester for its superior schools and majestic landscaping, only to find that their daughter develops a worrisome interest in the religion of her new friends. Pretty soon Mona\u27s tagged along to so many temple car washes and food drives...that she\u27s been named official mascot of the Temple Youth Group. Jen\u27s fast-paced novel tracks Mona as she discovers herself and her place in the world: She decides to convert, crosses racial lines by becoming friends with the workers in her parent\u27s pancake house, and falls in love with a boy from the local synagogue who lives in a tepee in his parent\u27s backyard. With a sly eye, Jen mines the battlefields of adolescence and assimilation to produce a novel that is as charming as it is relevant.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/jewishbookgroup/1068/thumbnail.jp

Reading: Gish Jen

Introduced by Sheila Liming

Typical American/ Jen

296 hal.; 20 cm

Panel: Living Writing

In this audiovisual recording from Wednesday, March 25, 2015, as part of the 46th Annual UND Writers Conference: “The Other Half,” Alexandra Grant, Torill Stokkan, and Gish Jen participate in a panel called “Living Writing.” The panelists discuss living elements of their work, whether to strive for self recognition or self displacement in order to empathize in writing, what it means to be a female creator, and more. Moderated by Dr. Rebecca Rozelle-Stone, Acting Director of Women & Gender Studies

Panel: In the Heart of the Country

Moderated by Melissa Gjellstad