Reader Reviews
Antonio Lucero
“My wife, Anna Lucero, and I just read your book Dancing In Their Light. I was quite moved towards the end - my eyes watered up. Thank you for such a human-felt memoir.“
lanny fox | brooklyn, New York
“I finished your memoir yesterday and took a day to let it all sink in, and I cannot come up with another word to describe it other than remarkable. Just REMARKABLE!!!!
You've lived the absolute coolest life, and I am so grateful that you shared your stories and family history with the world.”
PHILIPPA KELLy | Oakland, California
"Through Debbie’s account of her family's origins and experiences, we can literally taste and smell the life of her family in the restaurant as they struggled to leave behind the abuses, hunger and fear that had overwhelmed their lives in China, bringing all of their resourcefulness and determination to make America their new homeland. Chinn is a gorgeous, unembellished writer. The best kinds of memoirs urge the reader to feel the truth of human experience for themselves as they absorb and hold a true stake in the lives that unfold - Chinn's book does just this."
Craig Slaight | San Francisco, California
“An absolutely astonishing accomplishment! Your writing is exquisite, so bright, and inviting.”
Michael Stephens | EuGENE, Oregon
“It was a wonderful read and the final pages had a lovely elegiac quality that brought tears to my eyes. What a life! It was a privilege to experience your amazing family story.”
Naomi Jackson | Fishers, Indiana
“Having grown up in New York at the same time as the author, I learned so much about the experiences of her family, how they were treated, and how they assimilated. This is a no holds barred look at our society at that time - what the family faced and how they coped. Great read!!”
Anna Rickert | Akron, Ohio
“OMG….. I have laughed, belly laughed out loud and sobbed. It was wonderful for so many reasons. So many of the things your family went through in China can be parallel to my family and their experiences and fleeing. I laughed at some of the Mah Jong stories and I sobbed at your whole experience as a young teenager.”
Kevin Keegan | Silver Springs, Maryland
‘You have a masterful writing style and a wonderful story to tell.”
seema sueko |
arlington, virginia
“I just finished reading your book and I absolutely loved it. I was surprised how invested I got in the story of someone else's family -- I was so moved! Your writing invites us in, and the story of your parents and ancestors is so interesting, amazing, inspiring, and beautiful.”