Maureen Crane Wartski

I read this historical fiction to my kids as part of our study on communism in Asia.

A grandfather and his two grandchildren, Mai and Loc, whom he had cared for after their own parents died, lived in a remote village on the farthest point of South Vietnam. The Vietnam War had ended and the communist government had moved into the South, though it had taken some time to get into this particular area.

The day the government officials made their way into the village, it was apparent they meant to make changes immediately, instituting the confiscation of half of everything the villagers manufactured, produced, sold, or caught from the sea. If one did not agree or comply, he must attend a re-education camp. That is precisely why they intended to take Grandfather since he knew too much already.

However, before the officials could take him away, Kien (his adopted teen grandson), along with Mai and Loc, encouraged him to escape by way of the village fishing boat, Sea Breeze. Only Grandfather knew how to navigate the stars at night and the sun by day. With his knowledge and Kien's fishing skill, they could make it to Thailand. With very little food or supplies, they evaded the officials and headed west, hopeful to make a temporary home elsewhere with the promise to return to Vietnam in the future.

They became known as the Boat People.

It is estimated between 800,000 to two million South Vietnamese escaped between 1975 to 1995. They fled to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Some were turned away and countless died at sea.

Why did people flee Vietnam after the Vietnam War? Because communism is incessant and promises only hell on earth. The South Vietnamese feared retaliation, re-education (brainwashing), and imprisonment (torture). They would rather face death on the open sea -- dehydration, starvation, sharks, storms, and shipwreck -- than fall into the hands of an ideology that is cruel, wicked, and inhumane.

While I was reading this book, I was sure it was a true story, but it is not. At best, it is an historical fiction. Sadly, Vietnam still embraces Marxist/Leninist ideologies and is governed by only Communists, but today it is considered to be a Socialist Republic. I do not know much more about what it is like to live there now and I wonder if any Boat People returned to Vietnam, like Grandfather had hoped to.

Grandfather had never made it back to Vietnam. And he never got to see his grandchildren rescued at sea.

* * *… (más)

Mai lives in a small village in Viet Nam. They have not been touched by the war and really have no idea what's going on outside the forest walls. One day, a beggar boy named Kien finds their village. He starts fishing and is really good at it. One day he took Mai and her little brother Loc on the boat. They fell asleep there and ended up in a storm. They were able to get back to the village with the boat in tact but there are already new people there, officials from Viet Nam's new government. They were going to execute Mai and Loc's grandfather for telling the village 'false information.' However, Kien got Grandfather, Mai, and Loc out of the village and onto the boat. They were aiming to go to Thailand. When they reached there, they were completely out of food. However, the village they arrived in would not take anymore 'boat people.' They sent them off again with some food, but not much. They planned to go back to Viet Nam. Grandfather has gotten extremely sick. Fortunately they arrived on Outcast Island, a little island full of boat people who have also escaped the new government. They fed them and gave Grandfather medicine but it was only so they could take their boat themselves and leave them behind. Once they found out, they packed up their stuff and left. On the voyage Grandfather did die. Days after they were found by an American boat who took Mai, Kien, and Loc in. The book ended with them finally safe on this boat.

I liked book. The ending was sort of sad, but it was still enjoyable. It was also quite informative. I'm going to give this 4 and a half stars.… (más)

Candle In The Wind is by Maureen Wartski. The story is about a 15 year old Japanese American girl named Terri Mizuno whose brother, Harris Mizuno was shot dead by an elderly white man. The man shot Harris because he mistakened him for an intruder when Harris asked to use his phone because his car had stalled. After Harris' death, Terri had to keep her family together and take charge because her family was falling apart in anger and grief over his death. Supremist groups emerged in the town that the story takes place (Whiteriver, Massachusetts) which resulted in an eruption of bigotry, vigilantism, and hatred. One of the supremist groups was the brotherhood of the SAW (a skinhead supremacist group). The SAW launch attacks of vandalism, hate grafitti, and attacks targetted towards Asian families. The second supremist group is the APU (Asian Power through Unity), a militant Asian group formed in retaliation against the SAW. Terri realized that she must reveal the light of understanding and reasoning on Whiteriver and she found help in the form of her grandmother (Obaachan). Obaachan arrived to Whiteriver from Japan. A peace march was organized with the hope of decreasing the amount of violence but the opposite happened when members of the SAW and APU met at Boston Common. It was in this hostile atmosphere that Obaachan spoke to the crowd regarding why hatred and violence are enemies with everyone. She said that her grandson's death is no excuse for hate groups to hurt other people. Terri had an essay about peace and Obaachan urged her to read it to the crowd. It was then realized that violence was not the answer. Terri then understood that Harris' spirit will always be with her and her family and this drew the family closer again.

Candle In The Wind is a great book. It teaches about forgiveness, family, bias, and the negativity of violence and hatred. The book is well written and very emotional. For these reasons, I give the book 5 out of 5 stars. I recommend this bbok to those people who enjoy books that teach many lessons about everyday society.… (más)