The Strength of Water: An Asian American Coming of Age Memoir

"Water is fluid, soft, yielding. But water will wear away rock... what is soft is strong." —Lao Tzu

In 1920s Detroit, King Ying lives in a small apartment behind her parents' laundry business, where she stands on a box to iron clothes, endures taunts of "Ching-Ching Chinaman" on the playground, and tries to reconcile what passes for normal in Jazz Age America with her father's vastly different cultural values.

She dreams of a real home, the elegance of her Jane Arden paper dolls, and winning her stern father's affection. But when Ba incurs steep debts during the Great Depression, he sends her far from hope to live in his ancestral village.

In remote Tai Ting Pong, in the Guangdong Province of China, she feels as foreign in the land of her heritage as in the country of her birth. She must survive hunger, dangerous superstitions, and Japanese invasion as the Sino-Japanese War begins.

When guardian angels help her return to the U.S., it's a chance to seize her American dream. In this inspiring and heartfelt memoir, Karin K. Jensen records her mother's transpacific quest for identity, survival, and new world dreams.

About the Author

Karin K. Jensen is a local news writer for the Alameda Post and the debut author of The Strength of Water: An Asian American Coming of Age Memoir, which made the Kirkus Reviews annual list of best indie books published and won awards from The BookFest, International Book Awards, and the San Francisco Book Festival. She has won NewsBreak editorial awards, including on the topics of #StopAsianHate and #AAPI Voices. For her work, Authority Magazine named her a social impact author. She makes her home in California.

Praise for The Strength of Water: An Asian American Coming of Age Memoir

"A Chinese American woman looks back on poverty, war, and family betrayal in this heartfelt memoir... A classic, vividly written immigrant saga." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review and named to the annual list of top 100 indie books)

"The Strength of Water is a daughter's careful excavation of her mother's story... written with tremendous love and authenticity. It is an important document of the Asian American experience." —Kao Kalia Yang, award winning author of The Song Poet and The Latehomecomer

“... An amazing memoir where the ‘strength of water,’ the power of resilience and adapting to any circumstance, is the common thread that flows through the whole family, connecting everyone’s lives. Touching, inspiring, and brilliantly written.” —Shen Yang, author of More Than One Child and Golden Childhood

“... a must-read for anyone interested in the sociology of early 20th-century China or the experience of Chinese immigrants. Ms. Jensen tells her story with clarity, wit, and a deft touch for the unvarnished truth.” —Tani Hanes, author of Obachan, a Young Girl’s Struggle for Freedom in 20th Century Japan

“...a moving glimpse of Chinese American life in the last century, revealing the humanity of immigrant laborers, how they lived, and what they felt.” —Harvey Dong, Lecturer, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, UC Berkeley and Co-Founder of Eastwind Books

“The Strength of Water is truly a lesson in strength and courage.” —Lee Hsu Callaham, Retired Professor of English at Cornell University, Hong Kong University, and California State University, Fresno

“Karin Jensen has wonderfully captured history and culture along with the incredible stories of her Chinese American mother . . .” —Linda Austin, co-author of the WWII memoir Cherry Blossoms in Twilight

“...A thoughtful, engaging portrait of the courage it takes to carve out a new life—and the legacy it leaves behind.” —Julia Park Tracey, author of Silence and The Bereaved