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Sally Grindley
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Spilled Water Kindle Edition

by Sally Grindley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 118 ratings
See all formats and editions

When her husband dies, Lu Si-yan's mother is encouraged to sell her young daughter into domestic service. Lu Si-yan is just eleven when sold by her uncle. Nearly two years will pass before she can get back home to her mother and brother. In this powerful and compelling novel Sally Grindley portrays the life of a young girl in China, a young girl whose life is said to be like 'spilled water'.


With a brilliant first-person narrative and a powerful description of time and place, this novel is gripping, heart-wrenching and utterly mesmerising.

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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    9 - 11 years
  2. Print length
    228 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Bloomsbury Children's Books
  5. Publication date
    September 7, 2009
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  10. ISBN-13
    978-0747571469
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–In this bleak story set in modern China, 11-year-old Lu Si-yan's world falls apart when her father is suddenly killed. Although she and her mother manage to scrape a living from the soil, disaster follows disaster until one day her uncle tells her it is time to find her "own way in the muddy whirlpool of life." He sells her to a family to be their maid and eventually marry their handsome, but childlike son. After many months of emotional abuse and exhausting work, she escapes with the help of the family's grandmother, who is horrified at the treatment Lu Si-yan is receiving at the hands of her daughter-in-law. The girl's money is stolen, and she ends up working in a toy factory where the hours are long and the pay minuscule. Eventually she becomes ill, and through a series of unbelievably fortuitous events, her uncle comes to her rescue. Though much of the story rings true, the behavior of the uncle is problematic. It is unclear why he sells his niece in the first place when she is the one who takes care of her young brother and keeps her mother going. And one must wonder why he would rescue her after her mother's death. Though Grindley attempts to show motivation, it is unconvincing. Still, the book provides an interesting look at the issues of domestic slavery and the exploitation of factory workers that plague many parts of the world today.–Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. Set in contemporary China, this first^B novel tells a story of child labor and a young girl wrenched from home. When her loving father dies and hardship hits the farm, Lu Si-Yan, 11, is sold by her uncle as an indentured servant and future bride to a city family ("What else is a girl good for?"). She runs away, only to be trapped as a factory laborer, sewing toys at starvation wages on the assembly line in a stifling, noisy workplace. She finds kindness as well as cruelty in the factory, especially among older fellow workers, and she eventually makes it back home, though there is no happy-ever-after ending. Sometimes the child's first-person narrative sounds more like an account from an experienced reporter than the story of country kid, and the river metaphor of Lu Si-Yan's journey home is overdone. But the direct prose unfurls the story of a girl regarded as no more than "spilled water" in a way that will reach older readers as well as the novel's target audience. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0031KG1E0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Children's Books; 1st edition (September 7, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 7, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 906 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 118 ratings

About the author

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Sally Grindley

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
118 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Janey
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2014
This is an excellent, very decent book and written very well. I would have thought it was a biography if I didn't know better--it is so well-researched.

This book is very interesting, and suitable for grades 6 up, with a high AR level. It is a nice, decent book that keeps you reading!

This book opens your eyes to how factories might be--probably are--in Asian countries, which is very sad.

You will enjoy this book!
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baran kutlay
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book in the whole wide world
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2014
Spilled water is (I think) the best book in the whole wide world. You really should read the adventures of Lu Si-Yan.
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Julie
5.0 out of 5 stars hard life for the young child
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2012
As a mother of an daughter adopted from China, I learned a lot about expectations Chinese society has placed on girls. The vulnerability of children is often something others take advantage of in all cultures. This is a story that will also touches the hearts of anyone who is interested to know more about the plight of factory workers in China. I am glad that the story had a happy ending but my thought is that it is unlikely that a child forced to work at an early age and for unkind employers would ever find their way out of such a system.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Spilled Water
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2012
This book is great. It made me laugh and it made me cry,and most of all i felt like it put me in a different world while i read it, like i could see the story happening before my eyes. spilled water is all about a young girl trying to find freedom and happiness, and in the end she does, but in a way you wouldnt ever expect.
One person found this helpful
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Shirley
1.0 out of 5 stars Do not waste your time.
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2017
There is only the barest of Chinese culture in this book. It seems written to fill a niche of diverse literature, without the heart of China behind it. It is narrated by an 11-year old girl, but the narration sounds more like an adult reporter. The ending of the book is ridiculous. Throughout the book, we are shown the strength and courage of a young girl who faces enormous struggles and survives, but in the end she goes right back to where she started. It's so disappointing and completely unrealistic.
Do not waste your time on this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

Katie Bloomfield
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing read that will stay with you.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2018
Verified Purchase
I read this book as a child and always remembered what it was about but forgot the title. After years of searching it found this book again. If you're looking for a book that will bring you to tears in an instant, bring you moments of hopeful joy, leave you heartbroken and bring moments of rage at the injustice then this book is for you. It's beautifully worded and an amazing read. The story will never leave you!
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high standards
5.0 out of 5 stars Book
Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2014
Verified Purchase
very good book. Kept my granddaughter reading and interested. The book makes a learning lesson very interesting and the reader involved. A non reader stayed with the book until the end. She also enjoyed it and we discussed the book and the events. Good book for discussion with the parent.
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TS
5.0 out of 5 stars Spilled Water
Reviewed in Canada on August 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
It was a sad story but it just engaged one to read on. Great novel!
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liana george
5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely story, very well written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2013
Verified Purchase
I would recommend this book to everyone, it is a wonderful and powerful story. Sally Grindely has written this story so well it fills like your actually there watching everything happen. I couldn't put it down!!
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Clara Macdonald
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book but minor damages
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 12, 2018
Verified Purchase
The story is beautifully written and I could not put the book down because of it. However my book did come with some minor damages like rips in the pages and creases along the spine
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