  | Wishes Author: Van, Muon | |
| Price: $23.28 | ||
Summary:
In this spare, poetic picture book based on author Muon Van's family history and told through a series of wishes, a family packs up everything they own and embarks on a perilous oceanic voyage toward a better life.
| Illustrator: | Ngai, Victo |
Reviews:
Booklist (+) (04/01/21)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 04/01/2021 *Starred Review* Stunning illustrations tell the story of one family’s exodus from Vi?t Nam to the security of Hong Kong. The heartrending tale, told with minimal text, reveals the hardships faced by a mother and her three young children as they make an arduous journey to safety. One child is old enough to walk the trail to the boat launch, but her mother carries the other two with all their belongings. Each double spread contains one line of text that powerfully evokes the suffering the family endures and gives voice to inanimate objects: “The path wished it was shorter. The boat wished it was bigger. The sea wished it was calmer. The sun wished it was cooler.” Remarkable and emotional full-color pictures place readers starkly in the moment as they watch the family on their frightening passage to a better, safer life. Emotions are visible on the faces of the refugees while they endure the long voyage in a small boat, a storm at sea, and the heat of the baking sun. Based on the author’s family’s flight—detailed in an ending author's note—this story of escape makes refugees’ experiences more lucid and will summon deep feeling from readers. - Copyright 2021 Booklist.
