The Cricket War

Phạm, Thọ and McTavish, Sandra. The Cricket War
October 3, 2023 by Kids Can Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Thọ and his friends often train crickets to fight. Thọ does very well, and even has a special cardboard case for carrying his insects. When he wins another battle against Lâm, he feels bad when he runs into  Lâm's sister, who tells him that her brother was sent "to the country to take care of an ailing uncle". Given the atmosphere of South Vietnam in 1980, Thọ knows that his friend has been sent away to avoid conscription into the Communist army. Thọ's father even arranges for Thọ and his brother Vũ to be sent away, but at the last minute the man ferrying them demands more money than the family has. Thọ returns home, but is eventually sent to an aunt's in the country, and starts the journey to the Philippines. This goes very poorly, and Thọ manages to lose the address of an uncle as well as everything he had with him after the boat he is on is attacked by pirates. He does run into Mia and her family again, and makes friends with another boy. The group is saved by Cap Anamur, a group of Germans working together to help Vietnamese who are trying to flee their country by sea. Thọ ends up in a refugee camp where he learns English and is able to find out that his brother made it to Malaysia, and then was sponsored by a teacher in Canada. Eventually, he is sponsored as well, and glad to reconnect with his brother, although he doesn't see his mother for many years. 

Strengths: This short book is loosely based on Phạm's life, and offers valuable insight into the types of journeys that are still being undertaken by people fleeing places like Syria, Sudan, and Libya. This had special relevance to me personally, as I had relatives who adopted a young girl from Vietnam in 1975, and I'm sure that her experiences were not too dissimilar, although it was not something discussed in the family. Thọ's escape was even more harrowing than Nadia's experiences in Senzai's Escape From Aleppo, since he lost nearly everything he had. It was surprising that his family was able to get news to him. 

Weaknesses: This is not for the faint of heart, and I would not purchase this for an elementary school library. There are people who die on the boat, and the book starts out with a discussion of the cricket wars, which involve training crickets by taunting them with a dead cricket's head on a stick. 
What I really think: I will purchase this one, as it is a good slice of life book for US students who don't understand the travails that people have to endure to flee terrible conditions in their home countries. 

This reminded by of Leaving Vietnam: the True Story of Tuan Ngo by   Sarah S. Kilborne (1999), but I'm glad to have an updated book for my readers.