Thoughts that drift

among the rice paddies,
are scorched in the sun.

This lucky little book has become part of AlterEgoZoe's Asian/Far East Bookbox!

http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/529491

This is another of those books that are made for children but still fun to read as an adult. I liked the quirks and energy of the children and the grandmother. The parents were mostly 2D but the others came alive.

It has good description and stays mostly visual and in the moment. So it gives you a front row seat to pretty much every intense moment, while not sacrificing a childs' mostly innocent view of the world, minus real information of what's going on. As an adult with education, you can fill in what's going on in the background but if I child read it, that wouldn't even register for them or be important to them.

I liked how it played out. I thought it was well written. :)

Picked this out of the bookbox. Thanks for sharing. I agree some children's books are so good it's enjoyable even for adults.

I am glad to read this book, for a personal reason. I grew up in Hong Kong - the city that Mai (which happens to be my name!) and her family longs to escape to.

As a kid, I was aware that there was a camp set up for refugees from Vietnam. The UN had set it up there, as a temporary living space before the refugees moved on to Europe, America or Australia. Not surprisingly, the bottle neck got progressively tighter.

I remember that on the radios, there was hourly public service announcement in Vietnamese to tell refugees that new arrivals are no longer considered refugees and would be sent back (as mentioned in the last page of the book.)

The refugees were not allowed to leave the camp, and I remember news on TV about occasional riots and violence inside the camp. Reading this book I can see how the uncertainty and fear could fester into unrest, but at that time, such news certainly did not make the locals sympathetic. The news about the expenses spent and not reimbursed by the Western countries didn't help either.

Reading this book really allows me to see the other side of the story I've learned as a child. It gives me a much better idea of what the Vietnamese refugees went through to escape their country, and a better understanding of their culture. Thank you for sharing, and this book will continue on to travel in the Far East Book box which will be traveling soon.

Putting into the bookbox.

Ex-library hardcover with dust jacket.

Gratefully claimed from AlterEgoZoe's Far East/Asian bookbox.

Saturday, April 28, 2018: left on the freebie table at the McCully-Mōʻiliʻili library. (Larger photo here.)

Released for Secretariat's 2018 NJABBIC Challenge (week 17: country names).

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