THE CRICKET WAR

In 1980s Vietnam, a boy suddenly becomes a refugee, lost amid a sea of uncertainty.

Thọ loves cricket fighting, and he and his best friend, Lâm, eagerly compete to see whose cricket will win. Despite this childhood joy, there are certain unsaid rules in their small village. It is not uncommon for young men and even families to disappear. No one talks about why this is happening, and if they do it is never the truth: People are trying to leave Vietnam to escape the required conscription of young men in the Communist army. If any of the families are caught, the surviving relatives will pay dearly. Though Thọ knows this, it doesn’t dull the pain of finding Lâm and Lâm’s brother, An, gone one day. Thọ’s own older brother, Vũ, is also nearing conscription age, and Thọ overhears his parents whispering at night and notices them quietly selling their furniture to earn money to send the boys away. Vũ leaves first, and a year later, Thọ boards a small boat. He stows away with pirates who raid the boat and eventually navigates life at a refugee camp in the Philippines; through it all, he longs to reunite with his brother. Based on Phạm’s own experiences of leaving Vietnam at age 12, this action-packed, emotionally intense story is counterbalanced by moments of kindness and joy.

A harrowing yet hopeful account of a compelling journey.