Aung San Suu Kyi: Fearless Voice of Burma

by Whitney Stewart

When Aung San Suu Kyi returned to her native Burma to tend to her ailing mother, no one could have known that, within a few months, the quiet woman would become a leader of her people. In 1989, after Suu Kyi had worked only a year in Burma's renewed struggle for democracy, the military government place her under house arrest. The following years, while still confined to her home, Suu Kyi led Burma's National League for Democracy to victory in a national election. The military government refused to recognize the election.In 1991, still under arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize. Upon her release from house arrest in 1995, thousands flocked to Suu Kyi's home in Rangoon to hear her speak. There she offered hope that democracy may yet blossom in Burma.Whitney Stewart's biography, based on personal interviews with Aung San Suu Kyi and those around her, illuminates the dangers endured and the triumphs enjoyed by this inspiring woman, who has been put back under house arrest in her homeland.Additional materials by Burmese authors brings this fascinating biography right up-to-date, including the Saffron Revolution of 2007.

150 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2008

About the author

Whitney Stewart has interviewed the 14th Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Sir Edmund Hillary for her young adult biographies. She has traveled all over Europe and Asia to write her books. When she is not writing, she is usually visiting schools and libraries to give talks.

Her personal interests are in reading, traveling, yoga, meditation, and sea kayaking. She lives with her husband and son.

Reviews

[Katie]

It's hard to give a star rating to a book like this. It is like trying to rate an encylopedia article. I feel like I should give it more than three stars, but it has absolutely no literary merit and it didn't really make me think at all, but I learned a lot from it. The book is written for kids, and the whole time I was reading I felt like I should write a book report about it when I finished, which I guess is kind of what I am doing now. I think maybe children's non-fiction is the way to go when I want to just learn the facts about something. It gave more information than just an encyclopedia article, but it wasn't bogged down with all the primary source quotations and analysis that an adult non-fiction book would be required to have and generally leaves me overwhelmed and uninterested. I enjoyed that fact that in a short book I gained an basic understanding of the recent history of Burma and the life of Aung San Suu Kyi. That being said, the book was very straightforward and it was all facts and didn't really give much of an in depth understanding of the political situation of Burma.

[Dania sakti]

bagus bangeeet...seorang anak bangsa yang begitu mencintai tanah leluhur dan rakyatnya... rela mengorbankan seluruh yang dimilikinya untuk kemerdekaan di bumi myanmar....