Each week, Vicki at I’d Rather Be At The Beach hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where readers share the beginning paragraph(s) of a book they are reading or plan to read.
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Genre: memoir, humor
Raised in America, Val travels to Beijing in 1998 expecting to find freedom but instead has a different experience living in the old city with her traditional relatives.
First chapter:
On the very first page of a book about Christopher Columbus that my dad is reading to me, there is a word I don't know. I am squeezed next to him in the creaky maroon recliner where he does all his reading. Every new word opens up new worlds to me. This one has a long, slow sound to it and looks so different than it sounds.
"What is a journey?" I ask. He looks surprised and pauses before answering.
"A journey is a long trip," he says.
"A long trip!" What a disappointment. But as we read further into the book, I see what he means.Do this make you curious? I am, considering she takes her journey to old Beijing when she grows up.
