Böcker av Chia Gounza Vang

After their harrowing escape from Communist-held Laos, seventeen-year-old Nou Vang immigrates to America with her disabled mother and traumatized three-year-old nephew. None of them speak English, so Nou can only nod and smile at the American sponsors who meet them at the airport. When their sponsor's son, Peter, becomes Nou's tutor, she grabs this chance to overcome the final barrier to her dream of an education. As her education grows, so too does her love for Peter. When Nou's mother falls ill and refuses to see an American doctor, Nou gives into her demands for a shaman to perform a healing Hmong ritual. But the shaman's son, Xa, becomes infatuated with Nou and begins testing her as a potential wife. In addition to the attacks Nou faces from fellow students and prejudice in the small Wisconsin town where they live, she must now handle a new sinister threat-a marriage demand supported by her mother and the male dominated Hmong community. Fearful of being expelled from America, Nou struggles with the clash of American and Hmong cultures and the growing rift between herself and the young man she is falling in love with. When Xa tries to force her into marriage, Nou must once again risk all for her freedom.

Las fantasías de una hija se convierten en la esperanza final de su familia...En un Laos desgarrado por la guerra, Nou, una niña de trece años, sueña con los héroes legendarios y los seres míticos que viven en las historias folclóricas que tanto le gusta escuchar. Recordarlos le ayuda a ignorar el dolor físico mientras se esfuerza por realizar los interminables quehaceres que se esperan de una hija obediente. Cada noche examina los dos libros que le regaló su padre, un ex soldado, y reza por el fin de la guerra de Vietnam. Sólo la paz le permitirá ir a la escuela y aprender a leer los secretos que encierran sus maravillosos libros. En un ataque comunista nocturno a su aldea, la casa de Nou, sus libros y su ilusión de seguridad se pierden en las mortíferas llamas y los disparos de los rifles. Mientras su padre busca desesperadamente un lugar donde reconstruir su hogar, se entera que los soldados comunistas que controlan el país están decididos a matar a cualquier hombre que haya luchado junto a los estadounidenses.La familia de Nou debe huir de su patria, o vivir bajo la amenaza constante del encarcelamiento y la tortura. Sin embargo, para escapar de Laos se necesita un guía capaz de pasar de contrabando a un gran número de refugiados a través de los pasos de alta montaña de la jungla y cruzar el río Mekong hacia Tailandia, rutas vigiladas por patrullas con instrucciones de disparar para matar. Mientras aumenta el número de muertos que ensucian su ruta de escape, Nou recurre cada vez más a sus inútiles héroes folclóricos para que le ayuden a acercar a sus familiares supervivientes a la libertad.

In war torn Laos, thirteen-year-old Nou daydreams of the legendary heroes and mythical beings who live in the folklore stories she loves to hear. Remembering them helps her ignore physical pain as she struggles through the endless chores expected of a dutiful daughter. Each night, she examines the two books given to her by her ex-soldier father and prays for an end to the Vietnam War. Only peace will allow her to attend school and learn to read the secrets locked inside her wondrous books. In a late-night Communist attack on her village, Nou's home, books, and illusion of safety are lost in the deadly flames and rifle fire that follow. Although her family escapes into the jungle, they leave behind unknown numbers of dead and missing friends and neighbors. As her father desperately searches for a place to rebuild their home, he learns that the Communist soldiers who control the country are intent upon killing any man who fought alongside the Americans. Nou's family must flee their homeland or live under constant threat of imprisonment and torture. ¿But escape from Laos requires a guide able to smuggle large numbers of refugees through the jungle's high mountain passes and across the Mekong River into Thailand, routes watched by patrols instructed to shoot to kill. While the number of dead who litter their escape route increases, Nou increasingly draws upon her "worthless" folklore heroes for help in getting her surviving family members closer to freedom.