This is the first picture book of its kind that recounts the true story of one family's brave and perilous journey toward a new life in North America.

Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho
ISBN: 9781772780055
Published: November 2016
Published by: PajamaPress
Hardcover: 40 pages
Content Rating: G

Book Description:

It is 1981. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a fishing boat overloaded with 60 Vietnamese refugees drifts. The motor has failed; the hull is leaking; the drinking water is nearly gone. This is the dramatic true story recounted by Tuan Ho, who was six years old when he, his mother, and two sisters dodged the bullets of Vietnam s military police for the perilous chance of boarding that boat. Told to multi-award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and illustrated by the celebrated Brian Deines, Tuan s story has become Adrift At Sea, the first picture book to describe the flight of Vietnam s Boat People refugees. Illustrated with sweeping oil paintings and complete with an expansive historical and biographical section with photographs, this non-fiction picture book is all the more important as the world responds to a new generation of refugees risking all on the open water for the chance at safety and a new life.


I love immigrant stories probably because I grew up in an immigrant family. Adrift At Sea is about Tuan Ho's escape from Vietnam when he was a boy of six. The story is told through the eyes of Tuan and we feel for him as he experiences fear, a family torn apart and days adrift at sea with little drinking water. The story has a positive ending, of course, but it brings to life what thousands of Vietnamese people went through in the early 1980s when they tried to escape.

My 12 year-old son read this story too and felt saddened by Tuan harrowing escape. He picked up on the fact that another boat caught fire and those in it did not escape. This opened up a great discussion on world events and how in some countries people are still trying to escape by boat. I think that it's important to teach our young ones about what children in other countries go through. These are the stories of our country's immigrants.

The illustrations are simply beautiful and the style perfect for this dramatic story. The last illustration in particular when the American soldier gives Tuan a glass of milk is a perfect way to end this nonfiction book. I also enjoyed the photographs of Tuan and his family when they were young in Vietnam to those of him today as a man with his wife and children. More factual information is accompanied with these photos.

I highly recommend this book as a teaching tool and feel that it should be in every library. It's books like this that will make history come alive for our next generation of children.



I was deeply touched by this beautiful true story of a family's survival in the face of overwhelming odds as they leave Vietnam in search of a new life in the West. Sixty Vietnamese refugees, among whom is six-year-old Tuan Ho and his family, endure days at sea as the motor of the fishing boat fails, the hull is leaking, drinking water is depleted, and the merciless sun beats down upon them, They are finally rescued by an American aircraft carrier and eventually reach Canada.

I loved the "before" and "after" pictures as well as the brief historical overview of events relating to the war in Vietnam. It seems so long ago that our hearts were being gripped by the ordeals of the so-called Vietnamese "boat people." This book makes it very current in view of the new generation of refugees on the world scene.

The soft-focus artwork done by Brian Deines that illustrates each page is amazing. A shout-out to him! The author has produced a very readable book that both parents and children should read together.

I highly recommend this beautiful book.

Disclosure: Thanks to Laura Bowman from Pajama Press for sending us this book for review. We were not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review it.





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Stolen Child by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
(Rated: C)
Scholastic Canada Ltd
ISBN: 978-0-545-98612-0
Release date: February 1, 2010
Paperback, 192 pages

I LOVED this book. And it made my heart ache so much for all the injustices the Nazis committed, especially toward children. The story is told from the point of view of 12 year-old Nadia who arrives in Ontario, Canada in 1950 after the end of WWII from the Displaced Persons’ camp, where she has spent the last five years.

As she adjusts to a new country, new language and new parents who have risked their lives to save her, Nadia suffers nightmares and flashbacks of the things she has endured. She is confused about who she is. As her story unfolds, the pieces of the puzzle of her identity and how she ended up in the Displaced Persons' camp are put together, and we get the full picture of what actually happened to her and her family.

Author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch has written a story that brings to life the lesser-known history of the Lebensborn Program. Hitler and the Nazis planned on expanding the “master race” of the Aryans whose destiny they believed was to rule the world. So they began stealing blond, blue-eyed Polish and Ukrainian children from their parents, an estimated 250 000 children. Can a mother endure something so horrific? I have a blond, blue-eyed child…

Although truthful about what occurred during WWII, the book is not filled with detailed violent scenes. However, I will wait before letting my daughter read it. It can be scary for children to realize that they can be stolen from their parents in the middle of the night in their own homes. Despite this, the story shows how courage and love can motivate people to help and risk their lives for one another during periods of extreme duress. It can also teach our children not to make fun of immigrant children because we have no idea what they may have suffered and escaped.

I would highly recommend this book for in class reading and discussion as part of learning history in the school curriculum. Readers are certain to find this book enlightening, intriguing, suspenseful and hopeful. For me it was also heartbreaking as I imagined the pain of thousands of parents who have lost their children under a cruel regime.

Disclosure: Thank you to Nikole from Scholastic Canada for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.