Little Ah-Kim leaves not only her school, friends, home, and country, but also abandons her old name. As soon as she and her mother step out of the plane, which took them from Hong Kong to New York, she becomes Kimberley. Many years ago, her aunt Paula married a Chinese American man, Bob, who moved to the USA. Being worried about Kimberley’s future, her mother decides to immigrate. She believes that she can count on her sister, who does help them to pay for Kimberley’s mother hospital bills and plane tickets. However, Aunt Paula is not going to do a thing in order to improve their lives in the USA. The woman gives her sister a job at her factory, being perfectly aware of the fact that Mrs. Chang is not capable of fulfilling her duties fully. Not to mention that she finds them the cheapest and the dirties flat in the slums of Brooklyn. Soon enough Mrs. Chang has to ask her daughter to help her after school. Kimberly is ashamed to admit that she is not the brightest student in her class anymore, she hardly understands any English.
The girl stops going to school after one disastrous day when the whole class laughs at her. Not to mention that her teacher, Mr. Bogart, doesn’t pay any attention to the fact that the girl doesn’t speak English. She would probably continue ignoring school if Matt, the boy who works at the factory, didn't tell her that she is going to spend her life there if she doesn’t get a proper education. Kimberley is so afraid that she goes back the very next day. Although Mr. Bogart doesn’t change his opinion of Kimberley, she manages to find a friend, Annette, and this makes school more bearable. The more she talks to Annette, the better she understands how different they are. Kimberley understands that she has to hide the fact that she works at the factory after school, that their flat doesn’t have a central heating, that they are so poor that they don’t go to a hospital when Kimberley falls ill. Aunt Paula ignores her sister questions about a better flat and doesn’t miss a chance to remind her of the fact that she is in a life debt to her. Even being unable to understand such subjects as Literature and English Language, Kimberley manages to get high math scores.
What is more, she gains a full scholarship to Harrison High School. She tries to study even harder in order not to lose her place. Kimberley also notices that her feelings about Matt are no longer platonic. The boy seems to fancy her but thinks that she is out of his league, so he starts dating Vivian, a beautiful Chinese girl. When Matt’s mother dies, he feels rather forlorn. His father has left them and he has to take care of his brother, who has an intellectual disability. Matt meets Kimberley near her school and sees that she is with another boy, but as soon as she notices him, she says goodbye to Curt, her classmate, and leaves with Matt. They make love and start dating. Kimberley gets ready for the naturalization exam when she hears somebody knocking at her door. It is Annette, who manages to find out where her friend lives. She is so shocked by poverty that she claims to ask her mother, an estate worker, to help them. Mrs. Avery does impossible, she finds a little, but very cozy and comfortable flat in Queens. Kimberley is ecstatic.
Mrs. Chang quits her job at Paula’s factory, her daughter is accepted to Yale, and they are no longer on the verge of poverty. Everything is fine until Kimberley learns that she is expecting. She doesn’t want to spend her life in Chinatown and hides the fact of her pregnancy from Matt. They break up. They meet twelve years later and readers learn that Kimberley doesn’t get an abortion. She gives a birth to a boy, an absolute copy of Matt, manages to graduate from Harvard Medical School, works as a pediatric surgeon and lives with her son and mother in a fancy house. Matt delivers pizza, has a wife and a daughter. Vivian, his wife, is expecting their second child. Kimberley doesn’t tell him about their son, but they do manage to say proper goodbyes to each other. They still love each other but know that they are two different to be together. Kimberley doesn’t regret her decisions.
