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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Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff
HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0062133434
Published May 2013
Hardcover, 400 pages


Note: This book is rated C = clean read with the exception of 2 f-words when quoting the words of a US Coast Guard commander.
For more reviews, please visit the TLC Book Tour Page.

Watch the book trailer:



About the Author:
Mitchell Zuckoff is the author of Lost in Shangri-La, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Winship/PEN New England Award. His previous books include Robert Altman: The Oral Biography and Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend. He has written for national and regional publications and is a former special projects reporter for the Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting. He is a professor of journalism at Boston University and lives outside Boston.

Find out more about Zuckoff at his website, connect with him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter.

ISBN: 978-0-446-69885-6
Which is the safest seat on an airplane? Where is the best place to have a heart attack? Why does religious observance add years to your life? How can birthdays be hazardous to your health? Find out with:

THE SURVIVORS CLUB by Ben Sherwood

Synopsis:
Each second of the day, someone in America faces a crisis, whether it's a car accident, violent crime, serious illness, or financial trouble. Given the inevitability of adversity, we all wonder: Who beats the odds and who surrenders? Why do some people bound back and others give up? How can I become the kind of person who survives and thrives?

The fascinating, hopeful answers to these questions are found in THE SURVIVORS CLUB. In the tradition of Freakonomics and The Tipping Point, this book reveals the hidden side of survival by combining astonishing true stories, gripping scientific research, and the author's adventures inside the U.S. military's elite survival schools and the government's airplane crash evacuation course.

With THE SURVIVORS CLUB, you can also discover your own Survivor IQ through a powerful Internet-based test called the Survivor Profiler. Developed exclusively for this book, the test analyzes your personality and generates a customized report on your top survivor strengths.

There is no escaping life's inevitable struggles. But THE SURVIVORS CLUB can give you an edge when adversity strikes.

My thoughts:

I began reading the first pages of this book out of simple curiosity since I didn’t know what to expect from this book. I found myself unable to put it down. Even when I had to pick up my kids from school, I brought the book with me, parked the van, read some more until the bell rang signalling me I should get out to meet the children. It’s a good thing it was Friday, leftover night, so I kept on reading once I returned home.

So what’s so interesting about this non-fiction book? Firstly, author Ben Sherwood writes so well he’s an absolute pleasure to read. I now use his work in my Creative Writing workshop as an excellent example of how to write non-fiction creatively. Secondly, I love the science of psychology and the physical, mental and emotional workings of the human brain.

This book explores this through the fascinating look at how humans survive all types of crises, such as car and plane crashes, violent crimes, serious illness, the horrors of war and natural disasters. It attempts to answer the following questions as revealed in gripping true stories, astonishing scientific research and the author’s own adventures with survival tests: (1) What does it really take to survive? And (2) What kind of survivor are you?

When I say gripping true stories, I mean it. They will leave you awed and shaking your head in disbelief. Among many of the findings, one that caught my interest (as well as the author’s) is the role that faith plays in one’s survival. He states that faith is the most universal survival tool, if not the most powerful. I wasn’t surprised to learn this, but it was great to see it on paper. This book is so jam-packed with interesting information that the word interesting doesn’t do it justice. I learned many things reading this book and I will pick it up again in the future. This is one of the best and intellectually stimulating non-fiction books I have read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a thing or two.




Here's your chance to win this book thanks to Anna of Hachette Book Group who is giving away 5 copies! Here are the rules: GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

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6- For a bonus entry post about this giveaway on your blog or post on the sidebar and send me the link.
7- Deadline February 17, 2010.

Disclosure: Thanks to Anna of Hachette Book Group for sending this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.