Sky of Bombs, Sky of Stars: A Vietnamese War Ophan Finds Home

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-094-9

224 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2020

For young readers who have not had the privilege of reading Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's award-winning non-fiction books about Son Thi Anh Tuyet, a child rescued from Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War and who finds a new life in Canada, Sky of Bombs, Sky of Stars offers an omnibus of the two earlier stories.  

In her first book, Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War (2011), Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch tells the story of Tuyet, an eight-year orphan in today's Ho Chi Minh City who knows only bombs, soldiers, caring for babies at the orphanage and two visits from a woman and a boy. Convinced she would never be adopted because of a damaged foot and because she did not understand English, she never sees the opportunity presented to her when she is taken with numerous babies onto a plane to head away from the danger and to a new life with the Morris family in Brantford, Ontario.

In the sequel, One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way (2012), Tuyet has become a part of a family with a mom and dad, two sisters and a little brother. She no longer believes she has only been welcomed to tend to the children and, though she is still haunted by nightmares, she has learned to play and be a child again. But she has new fears when she learns that she will be undergoing surgery to resolve her foot and ankle impaired by polio. With her minimal English and her family unable to speak Vietnamese, Tuyet's world continues to be a challenge. Still, with the love and patience of her new family and other special people, she forges ahead, taking new steps forward.

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch consistently tells stories about young people challenged during historical times and how they rise above the adversity to make lives for themselves. Tuyet's is such a story. She was a little girl alone, feeling her life limited to work and caring for others, never expecting much for herself. But with an airlift out of Saigon and the love of a compassionate family, Tuyet builds something new and begins to see herself as the incredible person she has always been, beyond what service she provides. Fortunately, by putting both Tuyet's stories together in an omnibus, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and Pajama Press will help young readers get the whole story, saving them from a search for sequels or determining which book came first.  Sky of Bombs, Sky of Stars truly gives young readers the more complete story of a Vietnamese war orphan's journey from hardships and horror to hope and home.

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The two original books

Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War (2011)
One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way (2012)
were reviewed on CanLit for LittleCanadians originally
on April 9, 2012 and September 9, 2012 respectively.

The Theory of Hummingbirds

Written by Michelle Kadarusman

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-027-7

160 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2017

Middle-grader Alba has always been defined by Cleo.  Cleo is her left foot, the foot with talipes equinovarus, a deformity formerly known as club foot.  She has endured multiple treatments and restrictions on what she can and cannot do but, with her most recent surgery, Alba is convinced the normalcy she has always craved is almost upon her.  She is sure that, once her cast is removed, she will be able to shed her timekeeper role and run in the year-end cross-country race.

The idea of being NORMAL hovered ahead of me like a glittering, shining new world–a place that I had never been allowed into.  Somehow I knew that if I could just run in the race like everyone else, it would prove that I deserved to be there–in magical Normal Land. (pg. 48)

Alba is adamant that she will run and so, when best friend Levi isn't an enthusiastic supporter of her plans–he's wrapped up in proving there's a wormhole in the librarian's office–she lashes out, calling him weird and his ideas stupid.  Even Coach and her doctor caution her about making plans before they see how the foot has healed and how the physiotherapy works.  Sadly, in her efforts to get that normal life, she twists the truth, manipulates her mother and almost loses a friend. She may see herself as fierce but, like the hummingbird of the title, she can be vicious. Alba's story may not turn out as she plans, in a blaze of running glory with new friends, but it's closer than you think, resolving  itself appropriately and ultimately better for Alba, Cleo, Levi and others than expected.  

Alba is like the hummingbirds of the title.  Most people would see them as delicate creatures, perhaps fragile and vulnerable. But Alba and Levi, hummingbird aficionados, know that the little birds are not always what they seen.  They can be intense, even ferocious, not unlike Alba herself.  While the birds' behaviour is driven by survival, Alba's may be the same, or as she feels it to be so, especially when she doesn't get the reactions she wants or the outcomes she desires.  Fortunately, she gets some valuable guidance from friends and family about appreciating herself and being the best person she can be, regardless of things which might hold her back.

The Theory of Hummingbirds is Michelle Kadarusman's first middle-grade novel (Her first book, Out of It (Lorimer, 2014), was written for young adults.) and she's made it reader friendly in more than just vocabulary and content.  Her characters are both sensitive and gritty, as the need requires, and neither goody-goody nor reprehensible.  In other words, they are real children with strengths and challenges.  Because she underwent a series of surgical procedures to correct her own congenital talipes equinovarus, Michelle Kadarusman writes from experience.  Hence Alba's determination and drive for normalcy is written with authenticity and reads the same.  If  there's a lesson to learn, it's that seeing the hummingbirds and Alba and Levi and others only one way does a disservice to them and anyone.  We are all far more than our greatest challenge or weakness or even strength.  For that, on this day, we should all be ever thankful.

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Pajama Press
978-1-927485-02-6
128 pp.
Ages 8-12
2012

Eight-year-old Son Thi Anh Tuyet's story begins in Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue From War (Pajama Press, 2011) with her rescue from Saigon when the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong relentlessly bombarded the city at the conclusion of the Vietnam War.  Along with numerous babies from the orphanage, Tuyet is given transport to Canada.  And, regardless of her polio-stricken left foot and leg which she believes makes her unadoptable, Tuyet is welcomed into the Morris household in Ontario.

So begins One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way, the next chapter of Tuyet's life, as a new sister to Beth, 4; Lara, 3, adopted from Calcutta; and baby Aaron, also from Vietnam.  Though far from the bombings and orphanage life in Vietnam, Tuyet is still troubled.  She experiences nightmares and poor sleep, finding reassurance in sleeping on the floor near family so that she might hear them nearby.  She cannot understand English very well yet, so communication is difficult, though she recognizes the love and safety she feels in the Morris' home, now hers.  And she continues to suffer with her disabled foot and leg that prevent her from walking properly, running, and even kicking a ball.  Overriding everything, though, is her fear that she may have to leave the Morris' and perhaps return to Vietnam.

Though it has been explained to her that she will be going to McMaster Hospital for an operation for her leg and foot, Tuyet is not prepared emotionally for being separated from her new family and the aftermath of the operation.  In the 1970's, Canada's multicultural identify had not quite blossomed fully and translation services were essentially non-existent.  Awakening to find her leg "in cement" is distraction enough, but being unable to communicate her overwhelming pain leaves Tuyet feeling even more vulnerable.  Luckily her simple "I want Mom and Dad" brings Dad to help, as he does throughout the whole process of Tuyet using her crutches, being fitted for braces, and getting regular physiotherapy.

Tuyet's new life is filled with many "firsts", which she sometimes sadly connects with her past.  Balloons, the hospital, birthday presents and cake with burning candles, leg casts, and even a crop duster plane cause some confusion and even distress but the compassion and support John and Dorothy Morris extend to their new daughter and the unconditional love of her new siblings remedies most of her fears and pains.  Ultimately, coupled with a pair of little red shoes, Tuyet's life is changed forever.

Just as she so eloquently did in Last Airlift, Marsha Skrypuch gently takes the reader by the hand to observe the young girl's new life from Tuyet's viewpoint.  The thoughts in Tuyet's young mind are varied, complex and even irrational (from an adult's point of view, of course) but they are real and overwhelming to an eight-year-old, and even Tuyet astutely recognizes that "not all hurts show on the outside." (pg. 90) Not the princess dreams and perfect endings of fairy tales, Tuyet's story is all the more satisfying when her anxieties and confusions are resolved fittingly, just as her shoes are, though not perfectly, and provide the hope necessary to help her take her next steps.  A wonderful tale of making things fit, whether they be people or shoes.

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If you can make the book launch for One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way on Wednesday September 19, you will be fortunate enough to visit with both author Marsha Skrypuch and her guest, Tuyet.