Part anthropology, part sociology, part history, part medical case history, this is a revealing book. When the Vietnam War wound down, the problem of the Hmong people was pushed under the rug. It wasn't until the 1980s that our government started to accept our allies as refugees. For many Hmong, it was too little, too late. For others, the trip out of the Thai refugee camps where they had been warehoused for decades was a mixed blessing.

This is the story of one such mixed blessing. When one family in California in the 1990s needed help with their infant daughter's epilepsy, the encounter between the refugee family and a medical center soon spun out of control. California did not handle their refugees well. The author tracks frustrating lapses and miscues from both sides as a precious little girl's future hung in the balance. Sobering reading, and makes me grateful that my state at least started the cultural outreach in the 1980s, (not that Minnesota was always successful; see the author on how well the Hmong assimilate to a new culture over 2,000 years!) rather than wait for tragedy.

Fly far little book!

Left on the shelf.
A 2015 Spook-tacular Halloween Challenge release.

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