Little Cricket

by Jackie Brown

Twelve-year-old Kia Yang-nicknamed "Little Cricket"-has always lived among her extended family in their tiny Laotian village. But their peaceful lives are shattered one day when North Vietnamese soldiers destroy much of their village, and Kia and her family are forced to escape the encroaching war. After three years in a Thai refugee camp, they finally receive heartbreaking news: only Kia, her brother, Xigi, and their grandfather may emigrate to America. In Minnesota, Kia is overwhelmed by her new life, isolated by culture and language. It is only when Xigi gets into big trouble and Grandfather becomes ill that Kia discovers that they are not as alone as she thought-and that others are more isolated than she'd realized. Set in Laos and Minnesota in the 1970s, this is a powerful first novel from a promising writer.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Asia, War, Family, Childrens

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice look into the Hmong story--both in Laotia and in Minnesota. It's just average as far as writing, nothing exceptional but not bad either. Most of the story is told from the point of view of Kia, a young girl-and the story reads at her level. But it's fascinating how the author "zooms out" to more of an impersonal narration as she recounts the fleeing and and refugee camp, then zooms back in to Kia's level for the second large section.

Good read for mid to older children. Easy to read. It doesn't dwell on the horrific details of the Hmong people's story--but it does address them in an age appropriate way. I would definitely use it to teach my children about this group of refugees--especially if they had friends/classmates who are Hmong. I'm sure I appreciate it more because I used to work with Hmong children.
And even to teach about refugees/war's impact in general. At the beginning Kia doesn't know what "war" means when she hears people talking about it--but she finds out what it is (at least from her view). I think it could well illustrate those ideas for other children.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet YA book about a Hmong girl who has recently immigrated to the US. She lives with her grandpa and the story talks about how they struggle to get by in the new culture and environment. (Would also consider using it as an ESL supplementary book)

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another eye opening book about the Hmong in America.
Good story for 5th grade up.

[Chi Chi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Historical Fiction book about a Hmong girl moving to Minnesota

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a really good book

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kia Vang, a twelve-year-old Hmong girl, tells about her village life in Laos as a young child and shares the tragedies that lead her family to flee during the war. Her father is killed by soldiers, her village attacked, and ultimately she is separated from her mother and grandmother through a paperwork mistake at the refugee camp in Thailand. From there, she travels to the U.S. with her teenage brother and grandfather. We watch as she adapts to her new life and her grandfather and brother also go through changes. This book shares a lot about the Hmong history and traditions in an interesting but easy to understand format. When using Hmong words, the context is generally helpful for meaning. The author also provides pronunciation notes and a great bibliography at the end. This book is not only informational, but tells a good story about a young girl discovering her own strength and how to be the person she wishes to be.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kia and her family live in small village in Laos. When the Vietnam War reaches her village, she and her family are forced to leave their home and hope for a new chance. They get across to Thailand and spend several years in a refugee camp there. Finally, a church from Minnesota sponsors them and Kia, her brother, and her grandfather are able to go to St. Paul, Minnesota, but it is not an easy transition for any of them. I wanted a little more from this book; something was lacking for me. The guide to the Hmong language and pronunciations would have been more useful at the front of the book than the end, but it was nice that it was there. I also enjoyed the note about Hmong families settling in St. Paul; there is quite a large population there, and the first Hmong US Congressman is from Minnesota.

Geography challenge: Laos & Thailand

[? · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Cricket by Jackie Brown is a great book, that is totally believable, but really sad. I recommend this book to people who don’t mind emotional stories. One strength of this book, is that it is like real life. Sadly, girls and womyn didn’t have much authority in Laos, which is totally messed up, but was a fact back then. Also, mistakes happen, things do not go perfectly, and close calls happen. Anyway, it's the dead of the night Kia, who loves gardening, and her family's village is being invaded by the communists. Taking away all the men, and shooting at all the womyn's feet, forcing them to make meals for them. After that, nothing is the same. Without Kia’s father around and the family getting split up things aren't as happy as before. Everyone, it seems is drifting away from Kia. She just wants everything to go back to the way it was in Laos. Why is there such thing as war?

[Jean Haberman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This could have been the story of many of the Laotian immigrants living in Mountain Lake, MN. They had to escape Laos by crossing a river while dodging bullets to get to safety in Thailand. There they lived in refugee camps until they could get a sponsor to come to the U.S.

Little Cricket narrates the story of her family's escape from Laos and their new life in Minnesota. Life was especially hard for her grandfather and teenage brother. Little Cricket was caught in the middle. Grandfather's old world ways and Xigi's new world ways didn't mix and the two became estranged until they came to an understanding. Little Cricket tells her brother "Xigi way not bad way. But, Grandfather way not bad either. They need to mix ways to be right way."

This is a book that should be read to all children to help explain the effects of war and the struggles immigrants face when coming to the U.S.

[Kay Iscah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd roughly call this a cultural awareness novel. A fictional immigrant girl goes through circumstances similiar to those gone through by real immigrants. Over all it was cute and did it's job, but to me, it didn't feel quite finished. The novel stops after a few issue have been resolved, but it stopped too soon. There were too many things left unresolved and unexplored. I think to some degree the author did that on purpose, some annoying sense of realism, since life rarely resolves neatly. But I also wonder if they did it out of fear that it would become too long for a children's book. If that's so it's a shame.

[Miss Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

gr 4-6 243pgs


1970s Laos/Saint Paul, Minnesota. 12 year old Kia "Little Cricket" Vang loves her life in her small Hmong village. When soldiers come and take all the men, Kia and her family flee to a refugee camp in Thailand. When she and her family are accepted to immigrate to the United States, everyone is happy until they discover a mistake has been made. Only Kia, her grandfather, and her brother Xigi will go while the rest of the family must wait for the paperwork to be fixed. Kia, her grandfather, and Xigi find that America is very different and find different ways to adjust.

Great story!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pre-read this book to see if it was appropriate for my 11-year old daughter. It was a tamer version of the Hmong immigration story, but it still included some hard issues (war, her father dying, crossing the river, refugee camps, leaving her mother when she left for the U.S., being made fun of because she is Hmong, and her brother getting into trouble here). I will have my daughter read it. I'm interested to see her response to issues she's never thought about before.

[Kaykay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book a lot! However it is difficult to put an age group to it because it covers more adult like concepts that are serious and have violence but the writing is not very difficult and therefore is understandable for younger children. It is a very realistic book with serious concepts that make the book enjoyable and poignant!

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is about a young girl and her family, who live in Loas. they are forced to move away from there home because the Vietnam war is very close to there house, so it is dangerous to stick around. they move to america, hoping it is a safer place. when they get there their family starts to fall apart. this is a very interesting story.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really remember much about this book (except for the fact that it was awesome), but I do remember that it was about a little girl that lived in Laos, but had to move to America because of the war. And there was this one part that I remember where the bad soldier dudes came into their village and made old women dance and shot at their feet. :(

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's about a girl who flees from Laos with her family to Thailand. Then she, her brother, and her grandfather can go to the US, whilst they must leave their mother and grandmother behind. It tells a magnificent story about an immigrant family overcoming their hardships in America.

:) i really like this book!!!

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good book. the star is pretty cool.

[Sella Malin · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really like the kinds of books about far off remote villages with a completely different style of life, like this one. This book is really good.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was really monotonous

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book ages ago but its pretty good. Its about a girl that had to travel to America knowing little English.

[Princess]

it was so educatinal!!!! i recommened it to everyone

[Kristina k · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would check this book out all of the time. Loved it. Great way to introduce kids to the idea of Asian historical fiction

[Partridge Public]

Brown, Jackie