Author Anna Qu’s fierce memoir grapples with child labor, immigration, and love

As a teen, Chinese American author Anna Qu was forced by her mother to work in their family's garment factory in Queens. When at home, she was also the family’s maid and faced punishment for doing things like schoolwork. Qu then contacted Child protection services on her mother, but due to bureaucratic bumblings, those circumstances left her to fend for herself. Now as an adult Qu reckons with life, family, and not so easy answers to past trauma.