Helpful Score: 2
An important bit of eye-witness history.
Helpful Score: 1
To my biased mind this was a wonderful book to read. I had lived a similar life only in Germany at the same time. I can really recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing what a boy growing up , thinks of a war he is in and for that matter others around him. He ate better than I did, however. For most Americans especially with our current crop of wars this should be truly enlightening
Helpful Score: 1
An interesting history, but I didn't like the style of writing.
Imagine you are a six-year-old boy and are starting school. Most people have an experience like that. Except, for this boy, David, the school is 1,000 miles away. Also, it will take him six weeks to get there and he'll have to travel through a country at war. His parents are missionaries in China and that county and Japan are at war. Then imagine the Japanese go to war with the U.S. and the British Empire. Suddenly, you're in enemy hands and you and all of your school friends, as well as your teachers, are imprisoned in a camp. There, and in another one later one, you'll spend years. But it won't stop you from going to school or having fun.
In this book,the author, the young boy mentioned above, recounts his experiences. And those experiences are very unlike what children in the U.S. experience today. This is a wonderful read for Young Adults and older readers. As David's family were missionaries, and he became one himself as he grew up, there is a religious thread to the book, but it is not over-emphasized. The story is about how people can cope with unusual situations and deprivations, something we all should know how to do, especially today.
In this book,the author, the young boy mentioned above, recounts his experiences. And those experiences are very unlike what children in the U.S. experience today. This is a wonderful read for Young Adults and older readers. As David's family were missionaries, and he became one himself as he grew up, there is a religious thread to the book, but it is not over-emphasized. The story is about how people can cope with unusual situations and deprivations, something we all should know how to do, especially today.
