Synopses & Reviews
"A haunting tale of artistic vision triumphing over adversity." —KirkusReviews
Things aren’t looking good for fourteen-year-old Mehrigul. She yearns to be in school, but she’s needed on the family farm. The longer she’s out of school, the more likely it is that she’ll be sent off to a Chinese factory . . . perhaps never to return. Her only hope is an American who buys one of her decorative baskets for a staggering sum and says she will return in three weeks for more. Mehrigul must brave storms, torn-up hands from working the fields, and her father’s scorn to get the baskets done. The stakes are high, and time is passing . . . will Mehrigul's hard work be enough?
Review
Jefferson Cup Award Winner
Booklist Editors' Choice
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
IRA Notable Book for a Global Society
*"...[a] stirring debut novel
will make readers want to rush to the end and then return to the beginning again to make connections between past, present, friends and enemies."--Booklist, starred review
*"The verse form carries highly charged emotions and heavy content with elegiac simplicity."--Kirkus, starred review
*"Using spare free verse, first-time novelist Burg beautifully evokes the emotions of a Vietnamese adoptee as he struggles to come to terms with his past."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
"
the story is a lovely, moving one."--School Library Journal
Review
"In her debut novel, La Valley paints a memorable picture of this faraway people. . . . A haunting tale of artistic vision triumphing over adversity."
—Kirkus
"For many readers, this book may be their first introduction to the Uyghur people, and La Valley strongly evokes the culture and struggles of an ethnic group whose future is less than certain."
—Publishers Weekly
"Engages and teaches."
—Booklist
"An absorbing read and an excellent choice for expanding global understanding."
—School Library Journal, starred review
"The carefully honed plot and palpable family tensions...will resonate with most youngsters."
—Bulletin
Synopsis
An award-winning debut novel from a stellar new voice in middle grade fiction.
Matt Pin would like to forget: war torn Vietnam, bombs that fell like dead crows, and the terrible secret he left behind. But now that he is living with a caring adoptive family in the United States, he finds himself forced to confront his past. And that means choosing between silence and candor, blame and forgiveness, fear and freedom.
By turns harrowing, dreamlike, sad, and triumphant, this searing debut novel, written in lucid verse, reveals an unforgettable perspective on the lasting impact of war and the healing power of love.
Synopsis
Mehrigul, 14, is a Uyghur, a tribal group scorned by the Chinese communist regime. Facing obstacles that include her embittered father and her obligations to their farm, she has three weeks to make the baskets that will help her family and offer some hope for the future.
About the Author
Josanne LaValley traveled across the Taklamakan Desert to the Hotan region of China, where she spent time among the Uyghur. The recipient of an MFA in writing children's books from Vermont College, Ms. LaValley lives in New York City. The Vine Basket is her first novel.