Weeping Under This Same Moon [Paperback]

Jana Laiz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2008

ForeWord Magazine Winner of Book of The Year and International Reading Association Notable Book, Weeping Under This Same Moon is based on a true story of two teenage girls from different cultures, whose paths intertwine, dramatically altering the course of their lives. Mei is an artist whose life has been disrupted by the Vietnam War. Her anguished parents send her away on a perilous escape during the exodus of thousands of Vietnamese refugees known as Boat People. In Mei's words we learn of the dangers she faces caring for her two younger siblings on a sea journey fraught with hunger, thirst and deprivation, leaving behind everything she loves to find refuge for her family. Hannah is an angry seventeen-year-old American high school student. Friendless, neurotic, a social misfit - her passion for writing and the environment only intensify her outcast state. Through Hannah's voice, we get inside her head, there to discover a gentle soul beneath all the anger and turmoil. When Hannah learns of the plight of the Boat People, she is moved to action. Destiny brings Mei and Hannah together in celebration of culture and language, food and friendship, and the ultimate rescue of both young women from their own despair. Weeping Under This Same Moon is a testament to the power of love and the spirit of volunteerism; affirming that doing for others does so much for one's self.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Through the story of these Vietnamese children and the American girl who befriends them, Jana Laiz shows us how faith and courage can overcome the worst hardship. One comes out of this beautifully written book feeling uplifted, reminding us that hope always springs eternal for all the children of the world. --Emmanuel Dongala, award winning author of Little Boys Come From The Stars & Johnny Mad Dog. Weeping Under This Same Moon by Jana Laiz is a stunning achievement written with uncanny sympathy and intuition from the complementary perspectives of two teenage girls - one a Vietnamese refugee, the other a passionate yet unhappy American high school student - the book vividly portrays very different yet intersecting worlds. It is a moving, heartwarming, even inspiring book. I recommend it enthusiastically to readers of all ages and in particular to young adults. --George Rupp, President, The International Rescue Committee Weeping Under This Same Moon by Jana Laiz is an eye-opening powerhouse of a novel. Based on a true situation, it tells the converging stories of two teenage girls with very different backgrounds, living very different lives, both of them in a way refugees. Part One tells the very gripping story of Mei, a Vietnamese Boat Person making her way to asylum in America. Part Two portrays Hannah, a socially isolated middle-class American teen. Their stories merge as Hannah is drawn to become a volunteer for the International Rescue Committee, befriending Mei. Ultimately, the friendship saves both girls from their isolation and despair. This is a gripping, sobering, emotional and ultimately gratifying book. Weeping once read, will not easily be forgotten. --The Women's Times --The International Rescue Committee

Weeping Under This Same Moon by Jana Laiz is a stunning achievement written with uncanny sympathy and intuition from the complementary perspectives of two teenage girls - one a Vietnamese refugee, the other a passionate yet unhappy American high school student - the book vividly portrays very different yet intersecting worlds. It is a moving, heartwarming, even inspiring book. I recommend it enthusiastically to readers of all ages and in particular to young adults. --George Rupp, President, The International Rescue Committee

Weeping Under This Same Moon by Jana Laiz is an eye-opening powerhouse of a novel. Based on a true situation, it tells the converging stories of two teenage girls with very different backgrounds, living very different lives, both of them in a way refugees. Part One tells the very gripping story of Mei, a Vietnamese Boat Person making her way to asylum in America. Part Two portrays Hannah, a socially isolated middle-class American teen. Their stories merge as Hannah is drawn to become a volunteer for the International Rescue Committee, befriending Mei. Ultimately, the friendship saves both girls from their isolation and despair. This is a gripping, sobering, emotional and ultimately gratifying book. Weeping once read, will not easily be forgotten. --The Women's Times

About the Author

Jana Laiz is the author of Elephants of the Tsunami. She is a Chinese linguist and educator. Weeping Under This Same Moon is her first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 271 pages
• Publisher: Crow Flies Press; Trade Paper edition (May 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981491006
• ISBN-13: 978-0981491004
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #961,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Little Choices We Make, July 17, 2008

By 

Marian L. Steinberg (White Plains, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weeping Under This Same Moon (Paperback)

The small decisions we make in our everyday life can have a huge impact upon the rest of our lives, and upon the lives of others as well. This is just one of the themes of this fascinating story of how both volition and chance conspire in a wonderful way to bring together two young women from opposite ends of the earth. The tale of how Hannah, a teen who feels herself an outsider, and Mei, a victim of ethnic and political persecution in Vietnam, come together in the Bronx is an engaging and compelling story. It was difficult to put this book down, as it doesn't take long for the reader to develop empathy for the two lead characters, who change each other's lives forever. The story is all the more poignant because it's an actual memoir of events that really unfolded years ago.
The tale is uniquely structured, in that we alternate between the different perspectives of Hannah and Mei. Another theme of this book is that the one who volunteers to give gains at least as much from the experience as the one who is helped. Yet another theme is the common humanity of all of us, despite our very different cultural upbringing. As someone who has taught middle and high school for the last 26 years, I highly recommend this book to adolescents, to immigrants, and to teachers of both.
Marian L. Steinberg

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We All Shine On, June 19, 2009

By 

BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Weeping Under This Same Moon (Paperback)

"We all shine on, like the moon, the stars and the sun. We all shine on, everyone, come on, come on." -- John Lennon from "Instant Karma"

Set in 1976-77, this important book explores a part of history that has long been overlooked. Mei, a Chinese girl living in post-war Vietnam is forced to leave her home country. Mei, her older brother and younger sister are sent by boat across the world to the United States.

Hardship is a constant companion on their journey. These young people have no promise that they will survive the long journey and being uprooted from the only home they have ever known had to be traumatic.

Hannah, an 11th grader is living a somewhat parallel life to Mei and her family. Miserable with high school life and often at odds with her younger sister Ruthie, 13 and feeling the painful age difference between herself and youngest sister Joni, 9 has left Hannah feeling every bit as adrift as Mei's family must have felt on that boat. Tired of peers who don't meet her needs intellectually and socially, Hannah lashes out inwardly. She develops an eating disorder right around the time Mei has food issues. Hannah can be viewed as a David fighting the Goliaths of insensitive teachers; distant peers who share no common vision and a world rife with societal ills.

Hannah, like Mei is a fighter and a survivor. She threatens to put out a citizen's arrest on a man who is smoking in public. Despite her sisters' outrage at her bravery, Hannah bangs on the drum for social issues. She cares about the fate of sperm whales and young seals; she tries to encourage her sisters to take an interest in the rights and backgrounds of minorities. As it turns out, she is very successful in her endeavors.

Hannah's life reaches a turning point in late 1977 when she sees a news segment about the people arriving from Vietnam via boats. For her, this is a pressing need that must be addressed. Hannah enlists the help of her family in collecting items to provide for the newly arrived families; she takes it upon herself to make sure the families she meets have smooth transitions as well as basic necessities.

This is an excellent book that I hope will be included in the curriculum of elementary and middle schools. This is a book that will touch hearts as well as raise consciousnesses. This is a book about the far reaching effects of global compassion. It is, in effect a global handshake.

As we, as humans hopefully move toward that goal of "living as one [world]," this book is a powerful reminder that we ALL weep under the same moon. We all shine on, like the moon, the stars and the sun.

John Lennon said, "I hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one," from "Imagine" in 1971. "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance" could very easily be the soundtracks of this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars and so as the stone does not always know what ripples it has caused in the pond whose surface it impacts....., August 9, 2008

By 

Bridget Jensen "book maven" (Valhalla, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Weeping Under This Same Moon (Paperback)

With a sense of heartbreak and hope, I was inspired by the spirit of Hannah.
Hannah a struggling teen, and forward thinking young woman, saw through the blindfolds of racial injustice and chose to follow her heart.
The story is written in such a way that I felt the pain of human suffering, yet I also felt the humor that made me laugh, and the warmth of the loving characters.
The characters are courageous survivors, loving families quietly suffering in a foreign land connected to the altruistic spirit of one, Hannah.
Hannah a "social misfit and outcast" in her high school yet a healer in the Bronx, was driven to make a difference in the lives of "Boat People".
It is when Hannah reaches out to help-priceless gifts, stories and pains are exchanged.
What evolves is the story of courage, healing, hope, compassion, friendship, trust, self worth, connections of humanity.
After reading this, it reaffirms the truth that one person can truly make a difference in the lives of others.
We only need to turn on the news as Hannah did, listen to our hearts and reach out.
I am inspired now to find the Hannah and Mei in me.