The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho (RESERVED by Casey)

Cambodia is at war with itself, forcing thousands of its people to flee to the refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border. Among them are twelve-year-old Dara and her mother and older brother.

At Nong Chan they find food, rice seed and farm tools with which they can start life over when they return to their farm. For Dara, especially, the sense of community and safety at the camp is reassuring. She soon finds a friend, Jantu, with whom she creates a little world of peace and laughter.

But the chaos of the real world soon intrudes, as fighting and shelling hits the camp, and Dara is separated from her family. In the struggle to bring the people she loves together again, Dara learns to believe in herself.

"...a moving and sensitive account, told by someone who worked at camps on the Thai-Cambodian border."

-- Parents Magazines, U.S.A.
(The Clay Marble was chosen as one of their Best Children's Book of 1991.)