Helpful Score: 2
I had been meaning to read "The Latehomecomer" by Kao Kalia Yang for some time now, as I had heard great things about it. Recently my Grandma was given a copy and allowed me to borrow it, which I'm glad she did.
I've always heard bits and pieces of stories of what the Hmong people had to endure while in the jungles of Laos, but I've never read it from beginning to end. In the Latehomecomer, I felt like I was put in the middle of it all and was able to see for myself just some of the tragic things Hmong families went through just to find a safe haven. Very eye opening for this reader.
The novel begins with some background on the Secret War, but then to me it wove itself into a sort of love story as Kao's Father Bee Yang and her Mother Chue Moua's path's somehow cross during the most unexpected of time, a time of such uncertainty for the Hmong. I should add, the Kao does a wonderful job of giving background information on both her Mother and Father's family, before she gets into the story of her parents.
As Bee Yang comes upon this woman he finds so striking, the woman to shy to take notice moves along. Unwilling to give up, Bee finds this woman and they forge a bond and continue to see each other. Eventually they marry, but at large cost to Chue, as she has to give up her family, more importantly her Mother. This is a true sacrifice in life, not like alot of the menial ones we give up today.
The story moves along as the families have to outwit the Laos soldiers who are trying to hunt down any and all the Hmong they can capture. They men would surely be killed, because they were considered a threat. Eventually the family is able to make it to Thailand and to the So Kow Toe Refugee Camp. Now, there is alot that happens between that time, but I do not want to reveal to much, as I truly urge you to read it on your own.
During the next few chapters, we are given insight on life in the refugee camps. Obviously it was better then being pursued like prey in the jungles by Laotian soldiers, but life still was rough for the families confined in those walls. Kao's descriptions and ability to make the reader see in their mind what the conditions are like are amazing. I never felt like I needed more info, as it was all there for me to see.
After years in the camp(s) its finally decided that the family would move to America, a decision that is found to be unacceptable by Bee's Mother Youa, who has had to see another son move to America and doesn't want to lose another. Very understandable after reading what the family had to do to stay together. After months of preparation, which included schooling and learning the American culture, the family said their tearful goodbyes and made their way to America.
In America they are welcomed by other family members who have already began their new life. They would move in to McDonough homes and begin their schooling at North End Elementary, where I too received my Elementary education. As I read what Kao and hissister Dawb went through, it felt as if we went to two different schools. It had to be difficult to not only learning a new language, but a new culture and it seems like the teachers she dealt with didn't make this easy on her or her sister. It makes me appreciate my experiences even more.
Its not only the children of the family that have to adapt, but the parents are given the task of trying to find work with limited English or skills, but at the same time, willing to work hard if given the chance. We find out just what Bee and Chue do to help their family make it in America. Through it all they stay together and know that they will live the American dream
One thing that was hard about reviewing this book was trying not to reveal some of the wonderful and heartfelt stories that are told, so there is alot I didn't cover. There are great stories about survival, reunions, new arrivals, ghosts, death, and achievement. All and all, "The Latehomecomer" is a memoir that should be read by everyone, especially those who aren't familiar with the Secret War and the journey the Hmong, as a people, made to get to the United States.
Kao Kaolia Yang's attention to detail and ability to describe the setting is as good as any writer I've ever read and this is coming from someone that tries to read two books a week. I look forward to seeing where Kao goes next with her writing, as she's one of the most talented writers I've read.
Once again, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this great book. Help support Kao and share her family story with friends and family.
I've always heard bits and pieces of stories of what the Hmong people had to endure while in the jungles of Laos, but I've never read it from beginning to end. In the Latehomecomer, I felt like I was put in the middle of it all and was able to see for myself just some of the tragic things Hmong families went through just to find a safe haven. Very eye opening for this reader.
The novel begins with some background on the Secret War, but then to me it wove itself into a sort of love story as Kao's Father Bee Yang and her Mother Chue Moua's path's somehow cross during the most unexpected of time, a time of such uncertainty for the Hmong. I should add, the Kao does a wonderful job of giving background information on both her Mother and Father's family, before she gets into the story of her parents.
As Bee Yang comes upon this woman he finds so striking, the woman to shy to take notice moves along. Unwilling to give up, Bee finds this woman and they forge a bond and continue to see each other. Eventually they marry, but at large cost to Chue, as she has to give up her family, more importantly her Mother. This is a true sacrifice in life, not like alot of the menial ones we give up today.
The story moves along as the families have to outwit the Laos soldiers who are trying to hunt down any and all the Hmong they can capture. They men would surely be killed, because they were considered a threat. Eventually the family is able to make it to Thailand and to the So Kow Toe Refugee Camp. Now, there is alot that happens between that time, but I do not want to reveal to much, as I truly urge you to read it on your own.
During the next few chapters, we are given insight on life in the refugee camps. Obviously it was better then being pursued like prey in the jungles by Laotian soldiers, but life still was rough for the families confined in those walls. Kao's descriptions and ability to make the reader see in their mind what the conditions are like are amazing. I never felt like I needed more info, as it was all there for me to see.
After years in the camp(s) its finally decided that the family would move to America, a decision that is found to be unacceptable by Bee's Mother Youa, who has had to see another son move to America and doesn't want to lose another. Very understandable after reading what the family had to do to stay together. After months of preparation, which included schooling and learning the American culture, the family said their tearful goodbyes and made their way to America.
In America they are welcomed by other family members who have already began their new life. They would move in to McDonough homes and begin their schooling at North End Elementary, where I too received my Elementary education. As I read what Kao and hissister Dawb went through, it felt as if we went to two different schools. It had to be difficult to not only learning a new language, but a new culture and it seems like the teachers she dealt with didn't make this easy on her or her sister. It makes me appreciate my experiences even more.
Its not only the children of the family that have to adapt, but the parents are given the task of trying to find work with limited English or skills, but at the same time, willing to work hard if given the chance. We find out just what Bee and Chue do to help their family make it in America. Through it all they stay together and know that they will live the American dream
One thing that was hard about reviewing this book was trying not to reveal some of the wonderful and heartfelt stories that are told, so there is alot I didn't cover. There are great stories about survival, reunions, new arrivals, ghosts, death, and achievement. All and all, "The Latehomecomer" is a memoir that should be read by everyone, especially those who aren't familiar with the Secret War and the journey the Hmong, as a people, made to get to the United States.
Kao Kaolia Yang's attention to detail and ability to describe the setting is as good as any writer I've ever read and this is coming from someone that tries to read two books a week. I look forward to seeing where Kao goes next with her writing, as she's one of the most talented writers I've read.
Once again, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this great book. Help support Kao and share her family story with friends and family.
Bridget O. (sixteendays) -
Helpful Score: 1
Kao Kalia Yangs personal history began long before her birth. As traced in The Latehomecomer, her history begins with her Grandmother Youa Lee as a young woman, harvesting bamboo shoots in Laos, and continues into the Vietnam War. Before and after her birth, Kalias life and the life of those around her was married by tragedy but also filled with love and hope.
The Yang clan originated from the wild and beautiful Laos. When the Vietnam War began in 1963, it didnt take long for the U.S. to co-opt the manpower of the Hmong in Laos to fight on their side against the Vietnamese. Largely due to this cooperation, the Hmong were seen as an enemy to the Vietnamese troops, and were routinely hunted down and enslaved or murdered during, and even after, the war. Yangs family at the time of the conflict consisted of her father and her mother, newly married, and her older sister Dawb - Yang herself was not yet born. Yangs father had 8 brothers and sisters that also had families, including their grandmother the matriarch of the family. For years the family hid from the violence of the war in the jungle, living hand-to-mouth with no home to call their own. They could not stay hidden forever, and eventually many of them were taken by the combatants. Yangs mother, grandmother, and older sister gave themselves up to the soldiers in an attempt to save all of their lives. It was by the dark of night that the family was rescued from the camp and they carefully swam their way across the treacherous Mekong River to Thailand.
In Thailand, the family lived briefly in So Kow Toe in Nan Province before being transported to Ban Vinai Refugee Camp where the author was born in 1980. Ban Vinai Refugee Camp was a place of both renewed hope and despair. Yangs family was blessed with many new lives during their years in the camp, but the family was also destitute. Living in a dirty camp area that was shared with thousands of other refugees, no family owned much and no one still had a real place to call home. For years family members talked of leaving, of going to America or France, but their Grandmother kept them all together for as long as possible. By the time rumors spread that the camp would eventually be closed, the family knew they had to leave and registered to move to America.
The journey to America for Yangs family was not short. Before they could cross the ocean, the family had to spend six months in Phanat Nikhom Transition Camp to America. The transition camp was just as dirty as Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, but the children were introduced to schooling, the adults learned basic information they required to get by in America and all of them received medical attention and checks to make sure they were physically prepared for the trip. A feeling of dread hung over the family the closer the time came to leave. Not all members of the family were going to the same place. Some were registered to go to Minnesota, some to California, and a few cousins ended up going to France. The emotional heartbreak of separation for the family is one that had happened before, and this would definitely not be the last time.
The Yang clan originated from the wild and beautiful Laos. When the Vietnam War began in 1963, it didnt take long for the U.S. to co-opt the manpower of the Hmong in Laos to fight on their side against the Vietnamese. Largely due to this cooperation, the Hmong were seen as an enemy to the Vietnamese troops, and were routinely hunted down and enslaved or murdered during, and even after, the war. Yangs family at the time of the conflict consisted of her father and her mother, newly married, and her older sister Dawb - Yang herself was not yet born. Yangs father had 8 brothers and sisters that also had families, including their grandmother the matriarch of the family. For years the family hid from the violence of the war in the jungle, living hand-to-mouth with no home to call their own. They could not stay hidden forever, and eventually many of them were taken by the combatants. Yangs mother, grandmother, and older sister gave themselves up to the soldiers in an attempt to save all of their lives. It was by the dark of night that the family was rescued from the camp and they carefully swam their way across the treacherous Mekong River to Thailand.
In Thailand, the family lived briefly in So Kow Toe in Nan Province before being transported to Ban Vinai Refugee Camp where the author was born in 1980. Ban Vinai Refugee Camp was a place of both renewed hope and despair. Yangs family was blessed with many new lives during their years in the camp, but the family was also destitute. Living in a dirty camp area that was shared with thousands of other refugees, no family owned much and no one still had a real place to call home. For years family members talked of leaving, of going to America or France, but their Grandmother kept them all together for as long as possible. By the time rumors spread that the camp would eventually be closed, the family knew they had to leave and registered to move to America.
The journey to America for Yangs family was not short. Before they could cross the ocean, the family had to spend six months in Phanat Nikhom Transition Camp to America. The transition camp was just as dirty as Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, but the children were introduced to schooling, the adults learned basic information they required to get by in America and all of them received medical attention and checks to make sure they were physically prepared for the trip. A feeling of dread hung over the family the closer the time came to leave. Not all members of the family were going to the same place. Some were registered to go to Minnesota, some to California, and a few cousins ended up going to France. The emotional heartbreak of separation for the family is one that had happened before, and this would definitely not be the last time.
