Girls on the line / Liu, Jennie

Told in two voices, Luli and Yun, raised in an orphanage to age sixteen, work together in a factory until Yun, pregnant, disappears and Luli must confront the dangers of the outside world to find her. Includes facts about China's One-Child Policy and its effects.

Luli has just aged out of the orphanage where she grew up, so she starts work in a factory thanks to her friend Yun. Yun is also an orphan and loves the independence that the factory job brings her: she can buy and do the things that she wants, including having a boyfriend. There are rumors that her boyfriend, Yong, is a bride trafficker, but Yun doesn't believe them. When Yun discovers that she's pregnant and then disappears, Luli tries to track her down, afraid of what Yong might do to both Yun and the baby.