Reviews

= = By Sadie = = = = = Review =

by Morgan
Sundara is staying with her aunt Soka and uncle Naro in Cambodia when they are forced to flee. She doesn't know if her family is okay or even where they are, but for the time being she needs to help Soka, Naro, and her younger cousins start a new life in America. Sundara and her cousins are turning very American which is exactly what Soka and Naro don't want. They want them to stick to the Cambodian way. Then Sundara begins falling for a very nice American boy named Jonathan. Even though she isn't allowed to date, Sundara takes her chances because she really feels that she might be in love with him. This book was not a good one for discussion. It was very uneventful so each discussion was used to discuss the same things. The plot was very dull, and the conflicts seemed only slight variations on the same general idea. I do admit I learned a lot, but that's because we needed to in our class. I suggest if you do choose to read this book that you research Cambodia. Things will make a lot more sense. As for the characters, I thought they were very unnatural when they spoke. It became hard to connect with them because of their unreal thoughts and actions. The names of characters in the beginning were very hard to follow as well, and my group needed to list them on paper and keep the sheet at hand for continual use. I would give this book two out of five stars because the romance aspect was kind of cute and because I learned a lot, but also because of the reasons above.

=Review=

By Sadie
Sundara and her family are runaways from Cambodia and move to America. Sundara is torn between her old life style and the new surroundings. She dosen't know weather to move on or stay in the past. Sundara is going through an extremely tough time, I've never been in her situation, but she should confront her problem so she an finally get over them. This book was more confusing then it needed to be, all the characters were thrown in at once, and it was to mouch information at one time. I have never even heard of the Khmer Rouge, so when I was reading the first chapter I was had no clue what to picture or think about it. The whole book was reading about how Sundara can't cry, and how sad she is. And the ending? Jesh, don't even get me started. I truly think this book was a waste of time. I am digging my brain to try to find something good about the book, but I am drawing a blank.

~ The Khmer Rouge (Communists) come and invade Cambodia ~ **Beginning** **Action**: Sundara flees with her aunt, uncle and cousins ~ They leave on a boat to head for America (it is very packed and Sundara is responsible for her aunt, Soka's, new born baby girl, and on the way the baby dies and Sundara is forced to throw her overboard) ~ Then their boat arrives at Oregon, America ~ Sundara works hard to help out her family while still attending high school ~ At high school Sundara meets an American classmate named Jonathon, who she likes and wants to get to know better ~ **Climax**: But her Cambodian culture doesn't alllow her to go out with an American boy, so Sundara faces many obstacles ~ Jonathon doesn't understand that she can not date him because of her culture ~ He comes over to her house and does something that offended her little cousin ~ Sundara and Jonathon discover some of their similarities (like being concerned for the war over seas in Cambodia, also that they care for the refugees there) ~ Sundara has an emotional break-down because of how she can't meet everyone's expectations and she feels guilt about the death of Soka's baby girl on the boat over to America ~ **Resolution**: read Children of the River to find out It thought this book was okay. The same conflict/argueements kept appearing and they didn't make much progress of solving it every time. Also, the book was very confusing at times because of all the characters that were thrown in at once at the beginning. Children of the River is a book that was very hard for me to connect to. Sundara moved from Cambodia to Oregon and those to places are really far away with totally different cultures. And I've never went through a big change like that, so I couldn't connected to how she was feeling. But, the only part I could connect to is that she argued with her "guardians" a lot and I do too.
 * Review**
 * By: Brooke**

by: genna In this book, Sundara and her family has to flee their home country, Cambodia to go to America because their homes are being invaded. Sundara and her family go through many struggles. One thing that Sundara has to deal with is taking care of her aunt's baby, which is very hard for her to do, concidering she is only 18 years old. Also, she likes this boy named Johnathan, and her likes her, but because of Sundara's religion, they are not allowed to date. It is very hard for her because she has to decide if she should dis-obey her family and date him, or if she should 'do whats right' and stay away from him! Throughout the book, she always tried to explain to Johnathan why they cannot be together, but he just doesn't ever seem to understand! It is hard for Sundara's family to get used to the American culture, and they are not very understanding, and don't seem to want to change their way of life. I thought this book was okay. I will say that I have read way better books. This book seemed a little dull to me. It seemed like the same conflicts just kept happening over and over again and nothing new or fresh was happening. I recommend this book for any middle schooler, boy or girl! Although this book didn't catch my attention, I did learn from it. I learned alot about the Cambodian culture, and what its like to move across the world! Another thing is that I couldn't really connect to this book. The situations have never happened to me, or anyone else I know, so its hard to imagine what the characters are feeling like. There are alot of characters in this book, but as the chapters go on, they start to sort out and its more understanding!
 * __REVIEW__**