The Cricket War by Tho Pham & Sandra McTavish

Eleven-year-old Tho Pham loves challenging his best friend, Lam to cricket fights. Lam, who lives next door, spends much time training his crickets but they rarely win. Tho lives with his parents, his older brother Vu, and his two sisters, Thao and Tien. Tho's father lost his well-paying job at the bank after the Communist takeover of Sai Gon in the spring of 1975. Now even though both his parents work, they don't make enough money. As a result, they have been selling off furniture and other possessions.

On Monday morning, Tho waits for Lam to meet him outside his house but after ten minutes, he still hasn't appeared. Even after calling his name, Lam doesn't come out of his house, so Tho leaves for school. Lam doesn't show up at school either. After school and a pick-up game of soccer, Tho asks Lam's sister, Mai if Lam is fine. She tells him that Lam and An have gone to visit a sick uncle at his farm. However, Tho knows Mai is not telling the truth. Since the Communist takeover, people from their neighborhood just disappear. Sometimes one person or two, or even a family. Boys who come of age are conscripted into the Communist army, so to avoid this fate, they are sent away by their families. Tho knows Lam and An are gone and will not be returning.

When Tho sees two soldiers banging on Lam's family's door, he tells them that soldiers have already come to take away An. Vu overhears this and admonishes Tho for doing this, telling him that he will be punished instead. Vu is also worried because he is almost eighteen and will be conscripted soon. In an attempt to prevent this, Vu wants Tho to chop off his trigger finger. Fortunately, they are stopped by their father.

One day in May, 1980, Tho and Vu are told by their father that he has arranged for them to leave Vietnam. They will travel on a boat owned by someone he knows. They leave immediately, taking an xe lam to the home of Mr. Binh. However, Mr. Binh tells their father he can take only one boy, as their father has only paid enough gold for one. They leave the older brother, Vu behind to escape with the help of Mr. Binh. A month later they receive a telegram from Vu stating that he has arrived safely in Malaysia. A few letters later on reveal that he is most likely in a refugee camp there.

A year later, in May 1981, Tho is now a year older. Tho knows that the disappearing furniture is an indication that his parents are trying to earn money for his passage out of Vietnam. With the disappearance of Mr. Binh, Tho's parents take him to his mother's sister, his Aunt Linh, who has learned that a boat is leaving near her village. Linh's husband and their five oldest children have already fled Vietnam. Only Aunt Linh and her youngest son, Phat remain. Tho's mother gives him a plastic bag with a pair of shorts, a T-shirt with a gold chain sewn into the hem. He is also given his Uncle Quang's address in America. To travel to Linh's home, Tho and his mother make the journey of over two hundred kilometers, first taking a long bus ride, then making two ferry crossings. 

After a feast of roasted pig, vermicelli and spring rolls, Tho and his mother, along with Phat, are led by Aunt Linh to the back of the house which faces the river. With a full moon to see by, they board a small boat, along with six other people. After a long trip, Phat docks the boat and Tho and the others quietly board a larger boat. Phat waves good-bye to Tho, who never was able to hug and say good-bye to his mother. 

Tho's journey to escape Vietnam has begun, as the larger boat travels towards the sea. Tho falls asleep but when he awakes in the morning he vomits in the boat. He is astonished to see Mai and her parents in the boat. She tells him her mother found out about the boat from his mother. For Tho, having Mai and her parents with him makes him feel less lonely and that someone will be there to help him. But his journey is only beginning. It will test Tho's courage and resiliency as he encounters pirates, hunger, death and even the loss of friends.

Discussion

The Cricket War is another personal account of a Vietnamese refugee from the Communist takeover of the country. Almost fifty years after this event in 1975, many memoirs and children's nonfiction books are being published about the experience of fleeing Vietnam in the aftermath of the war and the fall of Sai Gon. 

The events in this short novel are based on the experience of Tho Pham as he fled his homeland in 1981 and landed as a refugee in Toronto, Canada. Tho was twelve-years-old when his parents arranged for him to escape Vietnam alone. Unlike the character Tho in The Cricket War, the real Tho was the only member of his family to escape Vietnam at the time. His two brothers and his parents remained in Vietnam, and his older brother was eventually conscripted into the Vietnamese army. Many of the events in the novel are based on Tho's experiences during his journey from Vietnam. These are explained in the Afterword found at the back of the novel.

The authors do provide a short note on Vietnam's history in A Brief Recent History of Vietnam at the back of the novel. The Cricket War explains why many Vietnamese chose to make the dangerous journey to freedom, despite knowing it could cost them their lives. This is done through the character of Tho and Vu's father, who explains to his sons how the Vietnamese have endured centuries of occupation and simply want to rule themselves. However, to many Vietnamese, the Communists are simply another occupier. He explains, "It is torture living in a Communist country...If you had money, or a big house, or lots of land before the Communist regime, they took it from you. The control what you learn, what you say in public, even how you practice your religion. If you vocally disagree with them, they will silence you by force or intimidation, or send you away to what they call 're-education' camp. At these camps, people are treated like prisoners and forced to do hard labor. Sometimes they die of starvation or beatings. If you try to leave the country and are caught, you are sent to prison. You also might be tortured or simply disappear."

The Vietnamese refugees were called "the boat people" because this was the primary escape route out of the country - often by rickety, unseaworthy boats across the South China Sea to Malaysia and the Philippines. As in The Cricket War, these refugees were attacked by sea pirates, often the boats sank with considerable loss of life, or they were captured by the Vietnamese and towed back to land to end up in re-education camps. 

Tho Pham's experience fleeing Vietnam mirrors that of most other Vietnamese refugees. The wooden boat was barely seaworthy and was overloaded with over seventy people, many who quickly became "sick, tired, hungry and scared." They were exposed to the scorching sun, the cold at night and violent storms. During Tho's journey, his boat was attacked daily by pirates, who robbed them of food and any valuables. Later attacks saw the pirates leave some food and water for the refugees. As in the book, Tho was fortunate to have survived multiple pirate attacks, even hiding on one of the pirate boats! He was rescued by the Cap Anamur, a German ship dedicated to help Vietnamese refugees, and brought to a refugee camp.

The Cricket War captures all of the terror and suffering the refugees experienced but it also portrays the resiliency and ingenuity of the Vietnamese people. For example, the refugees devise a way to catch fish and are able to cook their catch on the charcoal stove on the boat. They actively help one another, working together to try to survive. The novel, written for young readers is never graphic in recounting life under the Communists in Vietnam, nor in describing the pirate attacks, while still conveying what life was like in these circumstances. 

Canada was one country that took in many Vietnamese refugees. They have repaid our country many times over by contributing in almost every area of life in Canada. Many like Tho, were sponsored by individuals and church groups. 

The authors have included a map of Vietnam and neighbouring countries as well as a Pronunciation Guide to Vietnamese names and words. The Cricket War is highly recommended.

Book Details:

The Cricket War by Tho Pham & Sandra McTavish
Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd.
160 pp.