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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Book, March 6, 2005
This review is from: Children of the River (Laurel-Leaf Contemporary Fiction) (Paperback)
Not every person in the world can say that they have gone through the crisis of moving to a new country, leaving behind their family, and trying to keep a baby no older then a few days old alive. Sundara is one who can. Children of the River is a story that looks into the lives of Cambodians trying to stay alive while a group of Communists invade and try to communize the country of Cambodia.
The setting takes place mostly in Willamette Grove, Oregon but starts out in Cambodia during the attack of the Khmer Rouge (the group of communists). The main character, Sundara, who is only thirteen at the time of the attacks, is forced to leave her family and go to America with her aunt and uncle. In America, Sundara learns and tries to adapt to the customs of the Americans but has a hard time fitting in. After being in America for a while, Sundara meets an American football player who she comes to like. She knows though that she cannot be seen with him or be with him because of the Cambodian tradition, which do not allow any relationships between any non Khmer boy and that all marriages are arranged. But, she slowly begins to give way to the customs and she finds herself and Jonathan (the white American football player) in love. Fighting traditions and family, Sundara struggles to choose between Jonathan and her Cambodian ways.
After reading this book I could not help but notice one extremely well inscribed theme: "Never judge a person by looking at them." I have never read a book that has ever used this theme so profoundly. In most ways it jumped out at me, which made me realize how the society in America is centered on this one idiom. This book challenges its readers to "see not only with their eyes but in other ways as well." An extremely well written book by Linda Crew could only deserve my utmost recommendations for a young adult audience, mainly to open their eyes to the world that we live in outside of their city and country boundaries.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book, December 13, 2004
This review is from: Children of the River (Laurel-Leaf Contemporary Fiction) (Paperback)
Children of the River, by Linda Crew, is an excellent book. It illustrates the numerous ways that cultural differences influence the lifestyles of many people in the U.S. It tells the story of Sundara, a young girl from Cambodia, who flees to the U.S. escaping the violence and chaos of her home country. She must leave behind her family, her brother and sister, and her childhood sweetheart, Chamroeun. In America, she meets an American boy, Jonathan, who accepts and embraces her cultural differences. Sundara must struggle with keeping true to her Cambodian way of life, and the grief of not knowing whether or not her family is still alive. It is a moving story that I enjoyed reading and definitely recommend.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cornwall Ny 6th grader, January 28, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Children of the River (Laurel-Leaf Contemporary Fiction) (Paperback)
I am a 6th grader.
I read the book Children of the River by Linda Crew. The book is about a 16 year old girl, named Sundara, and her aunt's family who are all traveling from Cambodia to America. Sundara's aunt and her family don't know anything about what has happened to Sundara's family. Sundara's family was unable to escape from Cambodia. Sundara and her aunt's family left their home country because of the war. The Khmer Rouge army was coming and capturing all of the families that didn't have a chance to escape the country. Sundara boarded a boat with her aunt's family and fled from Cambodia to America. For Sundara, it is hard to live in America. They have to work really hard from dawn to dusk to make enough money to live in a house and buy food.
My favorite part in the book is when Sundara falls in love. When Sundara is 18, she has to get married because it's Cambodian tradition. In her culture, parents usually arrange a marriage with another man (or woman if you're a man). In Sundara's case, she doesn't know the whereabouts of her family, so her aunt and uncle have to find another good, respectful Cambodian man for Sundara to get married to. That will be especially hard because they are in America now. Usually, the two people that are getting married have never met and are complete strangers to one another. There is a major problem with this plan. Sundara doesn't want to get married to a Cambodian, she wants to get married to an American boy that she met at school. Sundara's aunt and uncle forbid her to talk to this American boy because he is "white." Sundara really likes this boy and he really likes her.
Find out what happens in Children of the River right now!
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