- Miss Lien
“Lien was fighting them again. Clawing at their arms, kicking her feet, pushing them away.” (Page 1)
I wonder if this is her being attacked and robbed again by criminals or if this is bullies attacking her.
“The oldest of seven children, Lien was hardly ever alone.” (Page 4
She was probably in charge of watching her younger siblings often, so it was nice for her to get some time alone
“Lien remembered the night her mother announced her most recent pregnancy. The adult’s reactions had been different from previous ones. There were no smiles or shouts of good fortune. Her father’s face turned red, though he said nothing in front of the children. Her grandparents spent most of the night praying to their ancestors.” (Page 6)
I wonder why this was not celebrated because it sounds like based off of this story the more children there are, the more work that can get done.
It sounds like that despite being a girl, Lien has to do some of the responsibilities that a first born male would have to do.
- We Should Never Meet
“Kim wasn’t planning on doing anything awful.” (Page 27)
I predict that she is going to rob the store in the mall.
“She’d accidentally smashed Vinh’s beeper the night before and needed to replace it before he found out.” (Page 27
This story must be older if people are still using beepers.
“Here there were no foster parents to tell her what to do.” (Page 32)
How old is Kim?
Vinh must be in a gang.
I wonder if Vinh died or got arrested and that was why he wasn’t answering the call.
- The Delta
Twelve years is a long time without seeing a friend.
I wonder why there was a twelve year gap between seeing each other.
“There were four or five infants tangled in every crib.” (Page 59)
That is too many babies to be sharing the same crib.
“Truc was in bed for a week after Phuong broke their engagement, suffering from phlegmy, bloody cough originating deep from within his chest.” (Page 66)
Could be suffering from a broken heart.
- Visitors
“Food markets in the States used disposable plastic sacks for groceries, instead of the sturdy cardboard boxes provided in Vietnam.” (Page 89)
I imagine those are much more difficult to carry around.
“A police car glided by, and Bac Ngyen lowered his head on instinct. He’d adopted the strategy most other Vietnamese immigrants had regarding the police enforcement. Stay out of the way, bow your head in false respect, and say nothing.” (Page 90)
Were Vietnamese people racially profiled by the police following the Vietnam War?
It must be very hard for the boy and Bac Ngyen feeling like visitors in a country that they live in.
“If one brother was in trouble, they all helped out. That was why Vinh had gone scouting for a family to rob that day.” (Page 103)
That explains why he robs people, to help pay off the debts that his brother owes.
- Gates of Saigon
I’m pretty sure Saigon is a city in Vietnam.
“Hoa had worked with enough Americans to understand their need to converse all the time.” (Page 119)
I thought that almost all cultures conversed often like in America, but I suppose not all cultures talk as much as Americans.
This story sounds similar to the situation described in the delta from earlier.
“Even if they were evacuated to America, that didn’t guarantee them a family. They’d still be orphans, but worse, in a foreign country.” (Page 125)
It is hard enough being an orphan in your own country, but I feel like being an orphan in a foreign country would make it even more difficult to be adopted by a family.
- Emancipation
“I was smuggled on a boat with forty-eight other refugees to escape Vietnam.” (Page 145)
They must have been escaping the country to get away from the war.
That was a powerful essay Mai wrote.
It must be extremely difficult growing up in a foreign land not knowing your parents and being in the foster system.
“A large white envelope posed next to the presents. Wellesley College. Mai pressed the light switch off. She went upstairs to bed.” (Page 170)
Wellesley College is one of the top schools in the country and is a private Woman’s liberal arts college.
- Bound
I predict from the title that someone in this story will either be bound for America or bound for Vietnam.
There seems to be a theme in a lot of these stories about orphanages.
“Vietnam was collapsing, no longer a premonition, but a fact.” (Page 181)
It must have been difficult to have to leave your country because it was being torn apart by war.
“Though his home country was falling apart, it was all he knew, and thus, better than an unknown land across the ocean, full of unknown people.” (Page 183)
What a tough decision that would have been to make, stay in a country falling apart, or move to an unfamiliar country where you don’t know the language.
- Motherland
“The palace has survived several attacks and renovations through the years and now stands as a museum for us.” (Page 213)
I would love to learn about the history of this museum and visit it someday.
Here is a picture of the palace, it looks like a hotel or a boat.
“Huan realizes this must come out sooner or later. It is obvious that he and his mother are not biologically related: she a chubby Caucasian redhead, and he, a lanky half-black half Vietnamese with furry black hair.” (Page 217)
I can’t think of two different looking people than the ones described here.
“As he wanders through the stands, Huan realizes there is no farmers market like this in America. People bump against him, the locals, who are there to do business. Different languages barter and negotiate. Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian. In the livestock section, customers bend over wire cages, poking the live ducks, chickens, and pigs inside.” (Page 219)
This sounds like a fun farmers market to go through with a lot of different cultures mixing together.