CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1991)
A short first-person novel details the difficulties Nam-Huong faces in adjusting to her new neighborhood and school and to another culture after leaving Vietnam to live with guardians in Australia. Numb with grief and sorrow at losing her family and home, Nam-Huong rarely speaks and, as a result, is ridiculed by neighborhood children and classmates. The depth of loss she feels is communicated in a series of letters she writes to a canary, a duck and a buffalo--animals she remembers from her earlier life in Vietnam. Numerous pencil drawings accompany this sensitive story of a young girl coping with tragic loss and taking her first steps toward emotional healing. The author's sources included narratives of adolescent girls who came to Australia from South-east Asia during the late 1970s/early 1980s. CCBC categories: Understanding Oneself And Others; History, People And Places. 1991, Orchard Books, 62 pages, $12.95. Ages 7-10.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1991)
A Vietnamese refugee unfolds the events that brought her to Australia. She's now living with "Auntie" (not a relative), a kindly restaurant owner, and her helper Chu Minh, who "has only had hunger and sadness all his life." Thoughtlessly cruel, most of the other children tease Nam-Huong about her name, the food she brings for lunch, and even her withdrawn silence (helping Auntie, Nam chops onions and weeps "onion tears...I wish I could cry real ones"). Gradually, as Nam begins to reach out, she reveals--in an understated narrative interspersed with poignant letters to animals she remembers from her homeland--her yearning for her lost family and her traumatic escape by boat with her grandfather, who died during a long, terrible crossing. When her beloved teacher fails ill, it seems that Nam may suffer still another loss. Instead, Miss Lily's recovery makes it possible at last for Nam to confide her pent-up grief. This profoundly moving novel perceptively and convincingly re-creates what one child might have experienced, confronting her troubles without self-pity. In spare, lyrical prose, Kidd portrays Nam with skillfully chosen detail that's sure to evoke empathy. Unusually appealing small format with many attractive b&w drawings. 1991, Orchard/Watts, $12.95; PLB $12.99. Starred Review. © 1991 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1991)
A brief, touching account of a Vietnamese girl's coming to terms with the memories of her traumatic escape from her homeland. Unable to speak or cry real tears since then, Nam-Huong - now living in an Australian suburb with a woman she calls Auntie - finally comes to terms with her grief when a favorite teacher falls ill. The novel's lean and unaffected prose is tinged with ineffable sadness. Category: Fiction. 1991, Watts, 62pp.. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.