About this item
For sixteen years, it's been just Sofie and her father, living on the New Hampshire coast. Her Cambodian immigrant mother has floated in and out of her life, leaving Sofie with a fierce bitterness toward her and a longing she wishes she could outgrow. To me she is as unreliable as the wind. Then she meets Luke, an army medic back from Afghanistan, and the pull between them is as strong as the current of the rushing Piscataqua River. But Luke is still plagued by the trauma of war, as if he's lost with the ghosts in his past. Sofie's dad orders her to stay away; it may be the first time she has ever disobeyed him. A ghost can't love you. When Sofie is forced to stay with her mother and grandmother while her dad's away, she is confronted with their memories of the ruthless Khmer Rouge, a war-torn countryside, and deeds of heartbreaking human devotion. I don't want you for ancestors. I don't want that story. As Sofie and Luke navigate a forbidden landscape, they discover they both have their secrets, their scars, their wars. Together, they are dangerous. Together, they'll discover what extraordinary acts love can demand.
About the Author
TERRY FARISH is an author of picture books and young adult novels, many influenced by her trip to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya and work with the American Red Cross in Vietnam. She wrote A Feast for Joseph in collaboration with South Sudanese musician and writer OD Bonny, a companion book to Joseph's Big Ride, both illustrated by Ken Daley. She wrote Either the Beginning or the End of the World, winner of the Maine Literary Award for young adult literature and a Boston Author's Club finalist award. Her novel is verse, The Good Braider is set in South Sudan and Portland, Maine. It was selected as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and winner of the Lupine Award from the Maine Library Association. Her picture book The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup, illustrated by Barry Root was a BCCB Blue Ribbon Winner. Terry has worked with Bhutanese-Nepali refugees to create a bilingual Nepali-English folktale, The Story of a Pumpkin. She was honored to be in on the visionary stage of the I'm Your Neighbor Books project to "build welcoming communities for New Arrivals and New Americans using children's literature." Farish lives in Maine.
