• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

A gripping story of a boy's escape from Communist Vietnam by boat, based on the author's own experience.

It's 1980, and 12-year-old Tho Pham lives with his family in South Vietnam. He spends his afternoons playing soccer and cricket fighting with his friends, but life is slowly changing under the Communists. His parents are worried, and Tho knows the Communist army will soon knock on their door to make his brother, and then him, join them. Still, it shocks him when his father says that arrangements have been made for him to leave Vietnam by boat, immediately. Thọ tries to be brave as he sets out on a harrowing journey toward the unknown.

Co-authors Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish, childhood friends, have loosely based this historical fiction novel on Tho's real-life experience as one of the Vietnamese Boat People, and have included many factual details from his journey on the South China Sea and in a Philippine refugee camp. Depictions of pirate attacks, hunger and loneliness make for a riveting survival story, sure to elicit empathy for refugees. Eventually adopted by a Canadian elementary school teacher, Tho's story is ultimately one of hope, courage and resilience. It's a valuable resource for social studies lessons on Asian culture and history, and on immigration.

Tho Pham left Vietnam alone at the age of 11, joining tens of thousands of refugees on boats and ships. After a two-month-long journey at sea and landing at a refugee camp in Palawan, Philippines, he was eventually adopted by a Canadian elementary school teacher. Tho lives in Ottawa with his family.

Tho Pham's profile page

Sandra McTavish is a former high school English teacher and now works in educational publishing. She and her partner, Doug, divide their time between Toronto and his family farm in Ontario, where they have a few “pet” cows and barn cats.

Sandra McTavish's profile page

• Short-listed, Forest of Reading; Red Maple Award, Ontario Library Association
• Short-listed, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, The Canadian Children's Book Centre
• Joint winner, Delaware Diamond; Grades 3-5, Diamond State Reading Association (DSRA)
• Commended, Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature, University of Connecticut
• Winner, Jean Little First-Novel Award , The Canadian Children's Book Centre
• Short-listed, 2024/25 Red Cedar Book Award, Young Readers' Choice Awards Society of British Columbia
• Short-listed, Saskatchewan Young Reader's Choice Willow Award, Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award (SYRCA)
• Joint winner, USBBY 2024 Outstanding International Books List, United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
• Winner, Freeman Book Award for Children's and Young Adult's Literature on East and Southeast Asia, The National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTAsia)

This engaging, semifictionalized account is all the more dramatic for its resonance with so many refugees today.

Toronto Star

While the protagonist's journey is plagued by trauma and upheaval, and the authors detail Phạm's and other Vietnamese refugees' experiences to tear-jerking effect, the creators also offer comfort via joyful interactions throughout this carefully crafted, fast-paced read.

Publishers Weekly

Inspiring.

Booklist

... a tale in which hope and human kindness leave lasting impression.

Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

In clipped and uncomplicated prose, Tho Pham tells the extraordinary story of his life as a young boy caught up in the currents of modern history ...

CM Magazine

A harrowing yet hopeful account of a compelling journey.

Kirkus Reviews