Water All Around - by Evelyn Vu (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Will she ever find her mother?

Life for eleven-year-old Linh was hard enough during the years post Vietnam war, but to be separated from her mother during an attempt to escape Vietnam in 1979 was unimaginable.

But it happens and now they have no idea where her mother and baby sister are, or whether they survived. Soon she and her remaining family (father and brother) make a second attempt to escape, unsure who will make it this time or what will become of them. She questions both Mr. Moon and God, and then all the people she meets along the way, the big questions sticking in her mind even as she explores the shores and mountains near the refugee camp where they must remain until they hear whether they will be allowed to immigrate. She and her brother make friends with other refugees and try to survive, but Linh worries when her father's wedding ring disappears and he becomes good friends with another female refugee. Will she ever be reunited with her mother?

Review Quotes

Evelyn Vu is one of 1.5 million "boat people" who tried to escape Vietnam. She was one of the lucky ones to succeed. Water All Around, her debut novel, is loosely based on her own memories and experience. Through her book, she hopes others, including children, and the children's children of immigrants, will come to understand the struggle during this period in history, and how/why so many people end up living in foreign lands. She hopes the novel, and her own personal story, will resonate with those who took similar paths and bring empathy to the plight of refugees.