Van Ho

I think this is a really well done short book, from the point of view of a young girl who was left behind when her family fled Vietnam and was reunited with them later. Life is super harsh for her, in some ways; but she remains philosophical about it despite her extraordinarily difficult position. The decision of the family to split is awful to contemplate, and particularly relevant in our time of immigrant persecution. The storytelling style is spare but high impact.

I'm a little unsure what to think about the fact that while the book is based on a true story and created with the input of the subject — it is not written by Vanessa Ho, but rather a collaboration with writer Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. I don’t have a problem with that, and I feel that the back materials make the nature of the collaboration clear; however, the cover and the first person point of view in the narration muddy that water significantly — you have to get through the whole book in order to get to that clarification. Also, the back matter makes it clear that the subject of the book in real life wants to be known as Vanessa, but she’s listed as Van on the cover — I don’t mean this to be super critical, but I do think perhaps the publisher is being a bit disingenuous, in order to make the narrative feel more authentic. It’s a small thing, but in an age where we value own voices and where this book is marketed to kids who may not read the back matter, it’s a bit confusing.

That’s a pretty big tangent, though, so let me reiterate that I think it’s an effective collaboration and a well written book. I also honor the author for wanting to help immigrant stories be told. I particularly think that it would appeal to hi-Lo readers/ struggling teens or tweens who don’t want to be seen reading a book for younger kids. It’s got the short book, fast paced, narrative nonfiction appeal, with a solid cover choice to engage that group, as well as precocious younger readers.

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Marsha Skrypuch is an accomplished and prolific Ukrainian-Canadian author of fiction and nonfiction for young people. Her early work focused on issues related to her Ukrainian heritage, but she has moved on to write books about the experiences of children during the Armenian genocide, in Eastern Europe during World War II, and in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The plight of refugee kids has been an area of particular interest to her. Skrypuch’s most recent book, Too Young to Escape grew out of an earlier picture book that told the true story of Tuan Ho, a six-year-old Vietnamese boy, who, with his mother and two older sisters, fled Vietnam by boat in 1981. Their goal was to get to Canada, where Tuan’s father and older sister were trying to pave the way for the rest of the family to start a brand new life. Unfortunately, Tuan’s little sister, Van, who was only four, had to be left behind with her grandmother in Van’s aunt and uncle’s house in Ho Chi Minh City. Little Van’s health was not robust. She required medicine for a lung condition, and her mother and older siblings’ flight from Vietnam would be fraught with danger. They’d be pursued by military police through muddy fields and ponds, and they would be spending time on a boat at sea. Van’s mother knew she could not carry two young children in her arms and run as she would need to. Therefore, Van and her grandmother would stay in Vietnam until the family had settled in Canada and had the means to sponsor them and bring them over by airplane.

Skrypuch tells the story of the little girl who was left behind for four years—from the time she was four until she was eight years of age. Skrypuch writes in the first person, from the point of view of Van herself. She has based the book on lengthy interviews she conducted with the adult “Vanessa”. Members of the Ho family apparently read, clarified, and contributed to Skrypuch’s draft. The author says in an afterword that along with details provided by them, her own research and imagination were needed to fill in the gaps.

Skrypuch has created an authentic-feeling narrative which communicates a lot of interesting information about Vietnamese culture—living conditions, food, religion, school, games, and the difficult home life of a family who had sided with the South Vietnamese during the war and were now at the mercy of communist victors. The book’s prose is kid-friendly and accessible. Skrypuch does a great job conveying a young child’s sense of abandonment and fear in such a situation. The little girl’s relationship with her grandmother was, of course, absolutely pivotal to her physical and emotional survival. Van’s aunt and uncle come across as rather harsh and exploitative (seeming to treat Van and her grandmother rather callously as servants), but the notes and interviews at the back of the book (after the narrative proper) make clear that the couple’s housing of a number of members of their extended family under the watchful and sometimes punitive eyes of the military police was very stressful. I loved the inclusion of so many photos of Van, her grandmother, and the family she was reunited with after four long years. These appear at the end of the book.

Too Young to Escape is probably best suited to kids aged eight to twelve. It provides insight into another culture and the refugee experience. I wish a short note about the Vietnam War and a map had preceded the narrative. It also wouldn’t have hurt to have provided a glossary—especially to tell a little about some of Vietnamese foods named. Even without these features, however, this is a worthwhile and touching book. I hope it will be a nominee for the Ontario Library Association’s “Silver Birch Express” Reader’s Choice Award this fall.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of the book for review purposes.… (meer)