When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

Eleven-year-old Ha lives with her mother and her brothers Quang and Khoi in Alabama. They fled their home country of Vietnam, without her father who was missing in action, something her mother won't talk about. Ha's middle brother, Vu Lee lives in San Francisco.

Ha is in grade six and has a best friend, Pam who wants to celebrate their birthdays together. She decides they will celebrate this on Ha's birth date with a special party.

At a family meeting, Ha's mother announces that she wants to move the family to Texas where Vietnamese seem to have more opportunities. Ha's mother wants this because she hopes this will take some of the responsibility away from Ha's older brother Quang who is working as a mechanic and so that Khoi can study to become an animal doctor. She also doesn't like that Pam's mother pays for Ha when the two girls do things together.

A first family vote has the three children Quang, Khoi and Ha vote to stay in Alabama. But a second vote sees Khoi side with their mother, creating a tie. Ha knows that her mother is scheming and will bring Vu Lee into the vote. He does return home and the family decides to move to Texas. They begin packing but Ha's mother delays their travel to Texas so Ha can have her day-of-birth party with Pam. After the party and roller skating, Ha, her mother and Khoi leave. 

In her new school in Texas, no one remembers Ha's name and she finds herself the only Asian student. Her mother works in a radio factory, while Vu Lee works in a bakery as well as at a second job finishing wood. They live in a pay-by-week rental. Eventually, Ha and her family move into an apartment. They have no furniture or beds. Starting over is hard, and for Ha this is just the beginning of many more changes.

Discussion

Thanhha Lai has crafted a realistic portrayal of a Vietnamese family's struggles to settle in 1977 America. The Vietnam War, which the Americans and South Vietnamese lost, has only been over for two years. Initially Ha's family, having fled Vietnam without her father, had settled in Alabama. However, Ha's mother has heard there is a larger Vietnamese community in Texas along with better job opportunities. In the beginning, life seems no better for Ha in Texas.

When the family moves into their first apartment they have very little - five boxes and four pillowcases. But her mother tells them to "...lengthen your gaze, toward where land meets cloud."  All Ha wants though, is an end to refugee living. She is in her third Grade Six class in the past month and she misses evenings with her mother who works late. Added to this, Ha has her first menstrual period at school despite some help by her teacher, she is left waiting on a bench for over two hours for her bus. 

Although she meets a few friend, Diggy, who is Puerto Rican, she knows this friendship will likely not survive their eventual move to a house. When Ha tells her mother about things that happen at school, her mother  panics, trying to protect her only daughter by having Ha presented at a Buddhist temple where she is scrutinized by Vietnamese mothers looking for prospective wives for their sons. Because her mother works long hours, Ha takes to signing school forms and her report card.

Ha also has to endure an insensitive class discussion of the My Lai Massacre which she doesn't know about because she was three-years-old when it happened in 1968. Charlie Company, part of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade, numbering less than one hundred men, was ordered to search for Viet Cong guerillas in nearby Son My. However, when they searched the village, they found no guerillas, only women, children and elderly men. Lieutenant William Calley, after ordering the villagers rounded up, gave the order to shoot them. The soldiers also raped a number of women. The massacre was only stopped by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson who placed his helicopter between the soldiers and the fleeing villagers. They flew many wounded villagers to a medical hospital for care. Five hundred and four people were killed, including one hundred eighty-two women, seventeen of whom were pregnant. The U.S. military attempted a cover-up but the war crime was exposed when Rod Ridenhour, a soldier in the 11th Brigade gave an interview to an investigative reporter after the military refused to act.

When Ha confronts her mother about this event, she tells Ha that she has invested in her children rather than being angry. 

"Instead I chose you children,

vowing to educate

your minds and hearts

so you would know the result

of your every action.

Choices to no

pick up a gun,

glorify a leader,

hide behind commands,

claim honor, blame others.

You would then 

begin to create

a different history." 

Ha's mother advises,
"Contemplate on yourself

until you're a solid anchor,

then ensure kindness to family

then society then earth."

Beautiful words, that ring true for everyone.

The lack of understanding between Vietnamese and American culture reaches a crisis point when Ha's mother is accused of abuse, after Ha returns to school having been ill. Treated at home by her mother, Ha has a leaf imprint on her back which is mistaken for the marks of a beating. Ha's mother stands up to school officials and with the help of a Vietnamese doctor they are exonerated.

When Clouds Touch ends on a much happier note: with the help of her brothers and her own contribution, Ha's family is able to buy a home. The clouds on the horizon have dived down to touch Ha and her family. And Ha discovers that her mother is their true anchor, working to provide a home that they can return to, one that replaces what was lost from war. Even more so, her mother refuses Ha's offer to study nearby, to be with her mother. But Ha's mother tells her,
"I relinquish you

to a world

unknown to me."

In some ways all mothers do so, but even more so, the refugee mother.

When Clouds Touch Us is a fitting sequel to Inside Out & Back Again which was written over a decade ago..

Book Details:

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

New York: Harper Collins Children's Books    2023

244 pp.

The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan

Silvia Diaz and her brother Eduardo live with their parents, Dr. Arturo Diaz and his wife, Adela in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their story is told in alternating chapters as "letters" written in past tense, that neither will ever read. 

It is 1977. Although the electric plant workers have been staging blackouts to protest wage cuts, that night Eduardo knew that their darkened neighbourhood meant the police were coming. Their father had just returned home from the hospital when the police forced their way in, handcuffing Eduardo and placing a hood over his head. The masked men searched his room, taking away his books and left with Eduardo. 

Before the arrival of the guerrillas and then the generals, life was very different for Silvia's family. Silvia and Eduardo played in the city's parks "...decorated with their pink and purple bougainvillea blossoms...", visited the zoo with its penguins, lions, and a white tiger, and took in operas at the Teatro Colon. Silvia and Eduardo also visited the planetario with Father. But then things changed.

One spring day, the military police came to Silvia's father's hospital and took away Jacobo Solanas who oversaw the hospital's psychiatric services. He was taken in for questioning because the generals believed Dr. Solanas's patients are telling him secrets that may be dangerous to the state. Eduardo was furious at his father whom he felt should fight against the generals who are taking away their freedoms. But Eduardo's father told him he is a doctor who has "...taken an oath to heal the sick..." and that if he is jailed that would not help either his patients nor his family. This didn't satisfy Eduardo who was determined to go to the hospital with his friends to protest. However his father warned him not to do this. 

The prospect that her father might be arrested was very terrifying for Silvia. So she and her friends, Rosa and Isabela decided to act as though nothing was happening. They rode their bikes on the Palermo Viejo's bike paths, shopped for jeans on Florida Street, and ate ice cream cones sprinkled with granizados at the heladerias. They went to the Alvear Palace Hotel for tea in their party dresses and slipped into the discos to dance all night. It was at a disco that Silvia met Norberto Lopez, son of General Lopez. It was Isabela who told Silvia who she was dancing with: General Lopez  had shut down the university papers and arrested professors, possibly Eduardo's favourite, Professor Bustamante. Silvia managed to leave the disco without giving Norberto her phone number. 

Eduardo chastised Silvia for ignoring what was going on. Silvia believed they were powerless and that they should go on with their lives. She wanted to have fun in her final year before attending university. While Silvia and her friends browsed booths at the Feriade San Telmo on Sundays, and wandered in the part, Eduardo became more involved with protests and meetings. He was determined to remember those who had been arrested and never seen again -- the people referred to as "Los Desaparecidos or The Disappeared. Eduardo helped the children whose parents had disappeared. But his actions angered their father who told him he was endangering all of them. The situation put everyone on edge. And then finally the police came for Eduardo.

While Silvia and her mother sat in the livingroom trying to drink tea and clinging to each other, her father set about meeting with lawyers. Meanwhile Silvia attempted to warn Eduardo's friends, Cesar and Maria, but was too late for the latter - she was chupada. Silvia's father went first to the general in the military, then to the municipal police and finally to their bishop. No one was willing to help. But a young priest, Fr. Paul told Silvia's father that a small group of priests was working to get information about the Los Desaparecidos. Silvia's father gave Fr. Paul the picture of Eduardo. Even a woman who Silvia's mother knew through her poetry and who belonged to an international commission on human rights was unable to help, because the Argentinean government was unco-operative.

During this time Silvia's family learned nothing about Eduardo but more about the many missing. Desperate to secure her brother's freedom, Silvia decided to return to the disco where she met Norberto Lopez, the son of the famous general, with the goal of making him care so much for her that he would be willing to ask his father to free Eduardo. But little did Silvia know about Norberto, his family, and how her plan would place everyone in her family in even more danger.

Discussion

The Disappeared is a short novel that portrays life in 1977 Argentina under the rule of General Jorge Rafael Videla.  In 1974, Isabel Peron, the third wife of General Juan Domingo Peron, became president of Argentina, following his death. General Peron had been in exile for decades until he returned to Argentina in 1973, in an attempt to reunite the country. However, during Isabel Peron's tenure, Argentina was beset by economic instability. 

In 1976, a military coup on March 29 resulted in General Jorge Rafael Videla becoming president of Argentina. His military junta banned political parties and unions, instituted strict censorship and dissolved the Argentina's National Congress and began a period of systematic repression. This took the form of the kidnapping and disappearance of tens of thousands of people, including students, artists, journalists, writers, trade unionist, and anyone who was believed to be against the government. These came to be known as Los Desaparecidos or "The Disappeared" and this period as "the Dirty War". The military dictatorship especially targeted university students and professors, anyone aligned with leftist ideology, religious who sought social justice, and trade unions advocating for workers' rights. Those abducted were never formally charged, had no access to legal representation, and were physically tortured and subjected to psychological abuse. Most disappeared never to be seen again, some were release. 

Democratic rule was restored in 1983 due to economic collapse and the defeat of Argentina in the Falklands War with the election of Raul Alfonsin. A law granting amnesty to Videla and others, was repealed and they were prosecuted and convicted human rights violations. 

The Disappeared focuses on the experiences of one fictional family, the Diazs who become victims of the violence that is engulfing Argentina during the Videla regime. Whelan tells their story from the point of view of Silvia and her older brother Eduardo using "letters" they write to one another but which they know will never be read. 

Silva's letters tell of her effort to secure the release of Eduardo who has been arrested. Silva's narrative explores the situation in Argentinean society during this time, who is aiding the government and who are protesting what is happening. The authorities will not help those families with missing persons: the municipal police tell Silvia's father that Eduardo was likely kidnapped by guerrillas, while the military police claim the military would never enter homes and that Eduardo is to blame for supporting those who oppose the government. The bishop blames Eduardo "...who should have chosen better friends". However, there are priests who want to help the families of the missing, as Eduardo's father learns.

Silvia's letters to Eduardo also describe the mothers who march around the pyramid that was built at the  center at the Palza de Mayo, outside the Casa Rosada where General Videla, president of Argentina resides. They are  there daily to "protest the disappearance of their loved ones".  The women are also marching for the other kidnappings, "Babies and even young children are taken from parents who are arrested." Silvia learns of a young mother whose baby is taken from her at birth, her whereabouts unknown: the mother who has lost not only a daughter but a granddaughter too.  The children are taken from parents who are protesting the government and given to patriotic and military families. 

Silvia's narrative seeks to portray the callousness and dissociation of those in charge through the character of Norberto Lopez. Silvia is shocked to see all the birds he collects and imprisons in cages - a metaphor for the people his father is locking up in the country's prisons. She is especially distressed to see a great egret crammed into a cage so small it can only "...dance a bit from side to side." When Silvia questions Norberto as to why he has them in cages he tells her they are safer in the cages than in the wild. In response to Silvia suggesting they would rather be free, Norberto tells her "What do they know about being free? They're only birds. My father says freedom is overrated." When Norberto tells Silvia that sometimes liberty must be sacrificed to bring order to a country, she realizes that like his father, General Lopez, Norberto places little value on freedom. Later, in an act of defiance and in defense of freedom, Silvia loosens the latch on the cage so that the egret will be able to escape. The egret is a metaphor for the people of Argentina, forced into jails, by a government that places little value on freedom.

Eduardo's letters focus on his experience in prison: the conditions of his cell, his torture and his struggle to not name those involved in the protests at the university. He describes his incarceration as  being "...in the country of fear..." Placed in a small room with the light always on, Eduardo can hear "...screams from a nearby room". As Eduardo reflects on how he came to be arrested he feels he had no choice but to protest. " We can't live in a country where everyone is suspected and everyone is at risk. They tell writers what they can put in their books. They say this book must go and that one. A book that tells the truth about what is happening to Argentina is not allowed." It was when the soldiers took away Professor Bustamante who taught in the experiment psychology department. Eduardo describes how he was ensnared by a man named "the Jackal" who wanted him to punish his friend Ramon Fratelli's family. He claimed Ramon was a traitor to those protesting and that Eduardo's mission was to place a bomb in the Fratelli's home. Ramon had been arrested for protesting and Eduardo knew this was a trap but he had already given the man his essays about bringing down the government. 

Each morning Eduardo is tortured by General Remos. He is beaten with a truncheon, is tortured with the picana - an electric cattle prod. A doctor examines Eduardo to ensure that the torture is not killing him. The doctor's betrayal of his vows to do no harm haunt Eduardo who has seen his own father help others. "That a doctor would aid the generals destroys all my hope. If they have the power to seduce a doctor to do the very opposite of what his profession calls for, they have more power than even I thought..." Still Eduardo continues to resist. Although he learns that his friend Ramon may be in the cell next to him - he cannot be sure as it may be a trick to get him to divulge information, Eduardo struggles to not give any information. Eduardo's letters reveal just how repeated torture weaken even the most determined. Fortunately Eduardo is freed before this happens. The novel ends with the Diaz family being exiled to Spain. This was the fate of thousands of Argentinians during the Dirty War. Many of the exiles which included dissidents, activists and the children  and families of the "disappeared" built lives in Spain. How realistic it would be for a political prisoner like Eduardo and his family to be exiled is uncertain.

All of the characters in the novel are ficticious except for General Videla. There isn't much character development, instead the characters narrate the events they experience, portraying some of what is happening during one year of the Dirty War. Dr. Arturo and Adela Diaz are focused on trying to stay unnoticed by the government, as are Silvia and her friends. However, through these characters the novel suggests that it almost impossible to bargain with evil. It must be confronted, something Eduardo does at great personal cost. Silvia too learns this with her plan to manipulate the son of General Lopez into asking for Eduardo's freedom. Although her actions show her great love for her brother, they also reveal her naivete regarding the personal risk. She is fortunate that the wife of General Lopez is able to save her, and ultimately her family.

This short novel offers a readers a general overview of the events of one year of the Dirty War using fictional characters. It would be interesting to read a novel that offers a more in-depth treatment of this mostly forgotten historical event.

Book Details:

The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan
New York: Speak
136pp.