Children of the River
Written by Linda Crew
Published by Laurel Leaf Library
Sundara fled Cambodia with her aunt’s family to escape the Khmer Rouge army when she was thirteen, leaving behind her parents, her brother and sister, and the boy she had loved since she was a child. Now, four years later, she struggles to fit in at her Oregon high school and to be “a good Cambodian girl” at home. A good Cambodian girl never dates; she waits for her family to arrange her marriage to a Cambodian boy. Yet Sundara and Jonathan, an extraordinary American boy, are powerfully drawn to each other. Haunted by grief for her lost family and for the life left behind, Sundara longs to be with him. At the same time she wonders, Are her hopes for happiness and new life in America disloyal to her past and her people?
Primary ISBN: 9780780709072
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback
Young Adult, Age 12 or older
Community Represented: Cambodian/Cambodian American
Themes: Cross-Group Dating, Family Separation: Living with Other Family or Friends, Generational Differences: Dating, Multiracial Identity, Refugee: War/Conflict
Setting: United States (Oregon)
Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Refugee
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