The Clay Marble, with, Connections

by Minfong Ho, Stephanie St. Pierre (Contributor), Pearl S. Buck (Contributor)

Contents:
Connections: So many languages (autobiographical essay) / by Minfong Ho --
Teenage refugees from Cambodia speak out / as told to Stephanie St. Pierre --
Tithra: lucky to be alive (interview) --
Ban: born in a refugee camp (interview) --
The old demon (short story) / by Pearl S. Buck --
Not enough Emilys (poem) / by Jean Little --
The bamboo beads (short story) / by Lynn Joseph --
From a distance (song lyrics) / by Julie Gold --
Minfong Ho (biographical sketch).

206 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 1998

About the author

Minfong Ho is an award-winning Chinese-American writer. Her works frequently deal with the lives of people living in poverty in Southeast Asian countries.

Reviews

[Momruns5]

A good historical novel. Jaylen read it in school and wanted me to read it. War is sad and I'm very lucky.

[Jodi Clark]

Right now I have the desire to explore places, culture, and history in eastern Asia. When I saw this sitting on one of my library shelves, I recognized the author's name, so I thought it would be worth picking up. I'm sure glad I did. This is probably a book best for middle school years and older. I like reading easier books at bedtime because my brain is tired, but the story was still very good and powerful. Dara and her family left their home for a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia because war threatened their life. The first part of the story is pretty peaceful, but then the last half touches on some of the horrors and devastation of war. There are lost children, bombings, crowded hospitals, and death. However, there are powerful messages of strength, courage, friendship, and hope in this story to take with you, and I would highly recommend reading it.

[Dessire]

I read this book with my ELA 6th grade students and they loved it. Most of them said that it was really said and that they wished it had a happier ending for some characters but they got really into the story and even started researching about Cambodia on their own. It was a great book!