Book briefs

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New kids section at Beijing Book Building

To My Teacher, With Love, by Yan Geling

Chinese-American author Yan Geling's latest Chinese novel is the story of two high school boys, one a "slumdog" and the other from a wealthy family, and how they both fall in love with their teacher, who is a 36-year-old single mother. The book explores the multiple shades of love the boys experience through their relationship with her－a teacher, a mother-like figure and a woman. Known for her women-centric writing, Yan has worked with director Zhang Yimou to adapt some of her works into films, such as Coming Home (2014) and The Flowers of War (2012). In her new novel, Yan focuses on the emotions that millions of Chinese youngsters battle while growing up.

The Rise and Fall of the Gang of Four, by Ye Yonglie

After more than 10 years of research, Ye Yonglie has published the latest version of his Chinese nonfiction book on the "Gang of Four". The so-called gang was a political faction made up of Mao Zedong's last wife Jiang Qing and her associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen. Together they engaged in activites that brought great catastrophe to the country and people during the later years of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). In the past 30 years, Ye interviewed more than 100 people, studied reams of historical documents and finished a 2-million-word account of how the four people rose and their rapid downfall. The book also has 300 historical photographs. "I spent most of my energy on this book, because it's my responsibility to let the younger generation know history," Ye says.

The Valley of Amazement, by Amy Tan

Spanning 40 years and across two continents, from 19th-century San Francisco to modern Shanghai, Tan's deeply evocative novel interweaves the stories of Violet, a celebrated Shanghai courtesan on a quest for love and identity, and her mother, Lucia, a seductive American whose search for penance leads to an unexpected reunion.