Recalls the events in a North Vietnamese village that forever changed the lives of the youngest daughter of a prosperous trader and her family. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Gr 4-6--A fictionalized account of co-author Tang's growing up in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Su Phan's family is of Chinese origin; her father is a wealthy trader with three ships that carry goods between Haiphong and their small coastal village. When the Communist authorities seize the vessels, Su Phan's father opens a store. Because he prospers and rejects Communism, the military police destroy the store and drag him away to prison to serve a sentence of two-to-three years, which ultimately stretches into more than seven. Su Phan's mother supports the now-destitute family by shoveling stones for the laying of train tracks near the village. When bombs began falling, the family moves to a rustic shelter in the jungle, where the girl's mother and older sister make dim sum to sell to nearby villagers. The last chapter sees the war's end, and an afterword brings readers up-to-date on the whereabouts of the surviving family members. The writing is commonplace, and the narrative is not as compelling as in other war stories such as Yoko Kawashima Watkins's So Far from the Bamboo Grove (Lothrop, 1986). Still, for its subject matter alone, the novel merits consideration.Diane S. Marton, Arlington County Library, VA Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 4-6. Written in a simple, accessible style with plenty of dialogue, this fictionalized autobiographical memoir of a North Vietnamese girl's experiences during the Vietnam War is told from the child's point of view. Like the other seaside villagers, Su Phan thinks that the war is always at a distance. But when Communist soldiers destroy her family's store and drag her beloved father off to prison, Su Phan's secure and comfortable life is shattered. When the war arrives at her doorstep in the form of a large piece of schrapnel embedded in her headboard, Su Phan and her remaining family members flee to a settlement deep in the jungle. They endure years of hardship and poverty before Su Phan's broken father returns, and the war ends. Any number of the scenes would make a compelling booktalk--the air raid at Su Phan's school, her dangerous journey alone into the jungle, the boat trip that finds Su Phan and her older sister surrounded by enemy bombers. Readers will care about Su Phan and her family, and will be relieved to read the epilogue that talks about Su Phan's current life, and how she teamed up with coauthor Pevsner at the Literacy Center in Chicago. (Reviewed January 1 & 15, 1998)039582267XJulie Corsaro From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.