'NO MORE MONEY FOR SCHOOL THIS YEAR. I TILL THE LAND IN ORDER TO PAY FOR MY BROTHERS' SCHOOLING. WHEN I THINK OF THE HAPPY TIMES AT SCHOOL, I CAN ALMOST IMAGINE MYSELF THERE. HOW I WANT TO STUDY!' - MA YAN, AGED THIRTEEN
This moving tale of a young girl with an indomitable spirit, wonderful humour and thirsty intelligence, was pressed into the hands of a foreign journalist - and changed Ma Yan's world.