To dream the impossible dream was just that , impossible. Or so Zhongmei thought. It's 1978 and her sister tells her the most interesting news. Now that the revolution in China is over, the Beijing Dance Academy is having open auditions for the first time and will be accepting twelve eleven-year-old students to study. What luck! She is eleven-years-old! From the time she hears the news, Zhongmei is determined to try out. There are just a few hiccups along the way. Being from a small farming town near Siberia, her family cannot afford to send her to Beijing and they definitely do not have the guanxi (connections with influential people) to get her very far. But that doesn't stop her. "A Girl Named Faithful Plum" is a real-life story of how Zhongmei's determination and talent pay off. Written by her husband, Richard Bersntein, this book reads more like a great story or novel than a biography.