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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Stone Goddess Review, April 4, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Stone Goddess (Hardcover)
I enjoyed the Stone Goddess, by Mingfong Ho. This book is great for pre-teens and teens who are interested in first person fiction. It is a book based on the late 60's and the ending of the Vietnam War. It shows the struggle and trauma that one girl named Narki goes through to become free as she once was, before the war. Even though the book is fiction, it has very true messages for growing up and not taking freedom for granted.
Narki, is a young Cambodian girl, her sister Teeda, and her brother Boran, are separated from their family during the Vietnam War. They all struggle to survive in labor camps where they are not treated with any kindness. They are made to work in rice fields. They are withdrawn from their Buddhists beliefs and they are forced to become part of the Angkor, which is the belief of the people who captured them. It shows how strong they were to survive for four years in the labor camps. It shows how being away from your family doesn't keep you from believing that one day you will re-joined with them.
All in all, The Stone Goddess is an enjoyable book. It unlocks doors that show the adventure of surviving in an unfamiliar place. It shows, even if your dreams are crushed, you just need to believe and everything seems possible as it once did before. This book represents adventure, dreams, trauma, and struggle. And it shows that all of it makes you a stronger person.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than others we read, rang true, August 7, 2005
This review is from: The Stone Goddess (Hardcover)
We bought Stone Goddess in preparation for a trip to Cambodia with our children. The older ones (10 and 12) read this book along with two others that tell similar stories (Little Brother, and Chantrea Conway's Journey to America). Stone Goddess was BY FAR the best-written of the three - Ho's prose is spare but emotionally rich, and her descriptions certainly rang true with what we saw in Cambodia. We visited Angkor, and the scenes in the book that were set there helped prepare us for what we would be seeing.
The plotline was also the most believable of the three books, and I found the latter section of the book, when Nakri has come to America and is trying to adjust, very poignant and true to the 20th century immigrant experience.
I would highly recommend this book for tweens and up - it's on the short side, but even adults will find it moving. If you were planning a trip to Cambodia with kids, I would say it's a must-read.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Stone Goddess explores themes of family and culture, war and death, hope and renewal, October 5, 2009
Twelve-year-old Nakri and her family live comfortably and happily in Phnom Penh until their lives are forever altered by the civil war in Cambodia. Forced out of their homes by Khmer Rouge soldiers, the family flees to safety in the country home of their grandparents. Their security is shattered again when the father and three older siblings, including Nakri, are sent away to forced labor camps. After years of deprivation and loss, Nakri is reunited with members of her family, only to be forced to move again, first to refugee camps in Thailand and finally to a new life in America. Compassionately written, The Stone Goddess explores themes of family and culture, war and death, hope and renewal.
The Stone Goddess is one of the books in the Scholastic First Person Fiction series exploring the experiences of teenagers of various backgrounds who immigrate to
America.
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