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Nancy Keane's | Booktalks -- Quick and Simple | |
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Whelan,
Gloria.
GOODBYE VIETNAM New York : Dell Yearling, 1992 IL 5-8, RL 6.1 ISBN 067982376X |
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After South Vietnam was taken over by the communist North Vietnamese in 1975, turmoil and peril continued for many people. The communist government sought revenge against those who stood against them in the war. Hen Mai, a South Vietnamese little girl, had to flee from her beloved village with her family for safety. The new ruling government wanted to interrogate and arrest Mai's father and grandmother; Mai's entire family set out on a long dangerous journey that hopefully, eventually, would take them to the United States. The journey begins with secretly escaping their village and entering into the dangerous unknown countryside. Hiking and hiding throughout the night, the family makes their way to the coast where an overcrowded boat waits to take them to Hong Kong. With luck on their side, and much suffering, Mai and her family make it to Hong Kong to find that they will probably be shipped back; they were housed in a huge warehouse with hundreds of other Vietnamese refugees also hoping for a new home and a new life. Luck continued for this brave family as someone sponsored their journey to the United States. Mai's father had acquired mechanical skills during the war, and these skills paved the way for their new home and new life in America. (Don Henry, teacher, DESERTMORNSTAR2@aol.com) |
| SUBJECTS:
Refugees -- Fiction.
Vietnam -- Fiction. Sea stories. |
