“What a powerful book! Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and Tuan Ho tell the story of Tuan and his family’s escape from Vietnam in an overcrowded fishing boat in 1981. The story is a true one recounted by Tuan of how he (when he was six years old), his mother, his two sisters and his aunt and cousins made their escape…
Brian Deines’ subtle double-page oil paintings add greatly to the mood and text of this story. There is also an historical and biographical section at the end of the book which explains the conditions in Vietnam in 1981 and what happened to Tuan Ho’s family as they made a new life for themselves in Canada. Tuan has become a very successful physiotherapist and now has a family of his own.
This book is very timely as we have so many refugees from war torn countries in the Middle East now attempting to make their way to a better life under the same kind of conditions that the Vietnamese people experienced back in 1981. With so many refugee children attending schools in Canada now, books like this one can help young children appreciate what some of these children have experienced and develop an empathy for them as they integrate into Canadian society.
I would highly recommend this book for all school and public libraries.”
—Victoria Pennell
Read the full review on page 26 of the December 2016 issue of Resource Links