Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)) [Hardcover]

Andrea Warren (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)

An unforgettable true story of an orphan caught in the midst of war

Over a million South Vietnamese children were orphaned by the Vietnam War. This affecting true account tells the story of Long, who, like more than 40,000 other orphans, is Amerasian -- a mixed-race child -- with little future in Vietnam. Escape from Saigon allows readers to experience Long's struggle to survive in war-torn Vietnam, his dramatic escape to America as part of "Operation Babylift" during the last chaotic days before the fall of Saigon, and his life in the United States as "Matt," part of a loving Ohio family. Finally, as a young doctor, he journeys back to Vietnam, ready to reconcile his Vietnamese past with his American present.
As the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War approaches, this compelling account provides a fascinating introduction to the war and the plight of children caught in the middle of it.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9–Warren relates the story of the 1975 Operation Babylift as seen through the eyes of Long, an eight-year-old Amerasian boy who was part of the airlift. The author uses narrative and reconstructions of conversations from interviews with those involved to trace Long's life, beginning with his indistinct memories of his American father and his more vivid recollections of his Vietnamese mother's suicide and his grandmother's struggle to protect and support him during wartime. She describes his stay at the Saigon orphanage operated by Holt International Children's Services, which housed, schooled, and arranged for his adoption by an American family. Long recalls the fear and excitement during the fall of Saigon, his journey out of Vietnam, his sorrow at the separation from his grandmother, and his emotional transition to his new identity as Matt Steiner. The book concludes with a moving account of Matt's 1995 return to Vietnam, where he finally understood the magnitude of the sacrifice his grandmother made for his safety and future. Photos of Long in both Vietnam and America illustrate the text. Although Warren mentions the cruelties of the communist Vietnamese government and America's abandonment of its South Vietnamese allies, this is a personal story, one that is so well written that it will be sure to hold readers' attention. An outstanding choice.–Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-12. At the end of the Vietnam War, eight-year-old Amerasian orphan named Long fled his country and found a loving home with his adoptive family in Ohio. With a new name, Matt Steiner, he grew up to be high-school valedictorian and athletic star, and now he is a doctor with his own happy family. But this stirring photo-essay is more than a rags-to-riches story. Always true to the child's viewpoint, Warren's clear narrative, with many documentary photos, begins as the boy struggles to survive in Vietnam, then describes the anguish of his abandonment by a loving grandmother no longer able to care for him; the kindness of rescuers at the orphanage, who arranged his adoption; and his terrifying evacuation on a plane under fire. The child-at-war story and the facts about the Operation Babylift rescue are tense and exciting. Just as gripping is the boy's personal conflict: his struggle to become American; his attempt to deny his sadness at what he left behind; and, finally, his pride in his roots ("I will never forget that my American heart is half Vietnamese"). Framing the biography is fascinating information, including Warren's account of the evacuation of her own adopted baby daughter on Operation Babylift; discussion about international adoption and Amerasian children; and a lengthy annotated list of sources. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (August 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374322244
• ISBN-13: 978-0374322243
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,580,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrea Warren is a native Nebraskan who has called Kansas home since 1979. Her six books of nonfiction for young readers include "Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story"; "We Rode the Orphan Trains"; "Pioneer Girl: A True Story of Growing Up on the Prairie"; "Escape From Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boyp"; "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps"; and "Under Siege! Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg". Her seventh, "Charles Dickens and the Street Children of London," will be out in 2011.

Warren's books have won a long list of honors, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award,the William Allen White Award, and the Robert F. Sibert Honor Award.

Warren says, "I write true stories about young people caught up in dramatic events. It's an interesting way to learn about history. Readers identify with my main characters and ask themselves, 'If that had been me, what would I have done?'"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling narrative, good history, October 20, 2004

By 

Pat McNees (Bethesda, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)) (Hardcover)

If you've loved Warren's earlier books about children surviving in difficult new circumstances (the two Orphan trains books, Surviving Hitler, and the one about the girl growing up on the prairie) you'll love this one, too. In this one, Long, the young hero, is half Vietnamese, half American. His survival depends on a pivotal airlift of Vietnamese orphans "tainted by the blood of the enemy" as the North Vietnamese are about to take over Saigon. But even before that the reader is caught up in the story of Long's mother and grandmother struggling to survive in a wartorn country.

The story works on one level for children and on another for adults -conveying how America's withdrawal from Vietnam affects the family of a boy whose young life is shaped by war. It has all the virtues of nonfiction wrapped up in a charming, moving, and compelling story. Adults and children may want to read this one together. It's a tribute to parenting, in whatever form it comes, and to the resilience of children.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars compelling and haunting, December 3, 2004

By 

J. Latus (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)) (Hardcover)

I read this straight through on an airplane and had to turn away from my seatmates so they wouldn't see me cry. As usual, Warren has written a compelling, evocative story about one child's experience, and in it has distilled an era and a place. The main character, Long, suffers through poverty and loss, then winds up in an orphanage where he vaccilates between grief over the loss of his own family and hope for a new mother. I got tears in my eyes as he said good-bye to his grandmother, who was his last surviving family member, and then again when he learned he had a new home in America. As a reader I felt his excitement and anxiety as the day approached when he would see his new family, and then his fear as the war moved from the countryside to the streets of his city. The drive to the bombed airport and the flight on the transport plane were terrifying, followed immediately by the joy as Long ran into the arms of his new mother. This story will stick with readers, both adults and children, leaving a personalized image of an otherwise hard-to-comprehend world event.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsive reading, wonderful true story, September 26, 2004

By 

Kathleen A. Baxter (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Escape from Saigon: How a Vietnam War Orphan Became an American Boy (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards)) (Hardcover)

Once you start reading, you probably won't be able to put it down. This is an amazing story, with wonderful photographs. I cried twice and made my husband read it. He loved it too!
Teachers will find this useful in the classroom, for teaching about the war in Vietnam, and Long/Matt is a role model we'd be delighted to see any kid follow.