Have you ever been so afraid someone would come and get you or your family in the middle of the night? I haven't, but Mai has. So the whole family packs up and runs to a little town that will put them on a boat to Hong Kong. But once they get there the boat is so full of people they don't know if they will all fit. They set off in this tiny boat full of people. The boat breaks down several times and they drift on the ocean. But Mai's father is a mechanic and fixes the boat. Once they are in Hong Kong they are placed in an immigration camp waiting for a sponsor. Luckily Mai has a cousin in America. Do Mai and her family get to America? You'll have to read the book to find out.