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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Somaly is a sixteen year old part-Cambodian girl who has lived with her mother on the remote west coast of Tasmania since she was a toddler. Somaly's mother was a nurse in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia when she gave birth to Somaly. Shortly after that, Somaly's father was killed by a land mine and Somaly and her mum left the country for Tasmania.
Juxtaposed with Somaly's life in Tasmania is the life of Keo, a traumatised Cambodian who lost an arm and his girlfriend in a Khmer Rouge ambush, and who now works as a hospital orderly on the Thai border. About the time Keo is informed that he'll finally be allowed to return to Cambodia, Somaly's mother in Tasmania finds out she has MS. If she's ever to return to the country she has ached over for years, she must do it soon. So Keo from the Thai border, and Somaly and her mother from Tasmania step back into a war-ravaged country filled with stoical, quietly-spoken people who, despite the legacy of Khmer Rouge rule, genocide, an estimated one million buried mines and extreme poverty, are still to this day strongly imbued with Buddhist warmth, graciousness and compassion. (from Author's website)
Affiliation Notes
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This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it contains a Cambodian character.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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On Travel, Lifelong Students, and Asking 'What If?'
2005
single work
essay
— Appears in: Access , vol. 19 no. 1 2005; Tolbert discusses the origins of many of his works, and how they all began with a 'what if' question. Includes a discussion of works-in-progress that later became the short stories 'Surfing for Wayan,' 'Summits,' and 'Tunnelling Cu Chi.' -
Untitled
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 41 no. 3 1997; (p. 30)
— Review of The Blue Faraway 1996 single work novel ; Stepping Back 1996 single work novel ; The Snake Cave 1996 single work novel
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Untitled
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 41 no. 3 1997; (p. 30)
— Review of The Blue Faraway 1996 single work novel ; Stepping Back 1996 single work novel ; The Snake Cave 1996 single work novel -
On Travel, Lifelong Students, and Asking 'What If?'
2005
single work
essay
— Appears in: Access , vol. 19 no. 1 2005; Tolbert discusses the origins of many of his works, and how they all began with a 'what if' question. Includes a discussion of works-in-progress that later became the short stories 'Surfing for Wayan,' 'Summits,' and 'Tunnelling Cu Chi.'
Last amended 24 Apr 2019 16:36:40
Settings:
- Tasmania,
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Phnom Penh,
cCambodia,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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cThailand,cSoutheast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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