Lang Lang

Chinese piano prodigy Lang Lang tells the story of his childhood in Shenyang with co-writer David Ritz, and the result is one of the more honest coming-of-age memoirs you will find in the music world. The emotional center is his father — a former military musician who drove his son with a pressure that occasionally turned cruel, including one harrowing scene where the father orders a young Lang Lang to consider taking his own life rather than face shame. It is intense but not graphic, and the book handles it without bitterness or self-pity. That restraint is the book's real strength. Families with sensitive younger readers may want to preview first. What you get is a vivid window into China's competitive classical music culture and a genuinely inspiring story of sacrifice and perseverance.