Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi

This is a sweet coming-of-age love story, but a little more YA than I was expecting. The protagonist, Jingqui, spends most of the book dithering about a boy who might or might not be boyfriend material. What's always interesting for me, though, is the inside view of the culture and politics of everyday life in 1970s communist China,

3 out of 5 stars - I liked it.

Jingqui, an innocent young woman from a poor and politically questionable family in the city, is selected as one of a small group of students to be sent to the countryside to work on a glorious new education project that will further the Cultural Revolution. Clever, curious, and eager, she wants to fit in with her hosts and the rural way of life, and it isn't appropriate for her to fall in love. But she does, with the son of a mighty army general. (back cover)