Tuyet used to dream of being adopted. But the Saigon orphanage is full of perfect babies and toddlers. Who would ever want an older girl with a club foot? Tuyet is resigned to caring for the babies, hoping that she will be allowed to stay if she continues to make herself useful. But then, in the closing days of the Vietnam War, the city is invaded and no one is safe. Tuyet and fifty-six other orphans are put on an airplane bound for North America. Tuyet is thrilled to find a new friend in Linh, another refugee on the flight, but her happiness is short-lived. Once they arrive in their new...

Brought up in a Vietnamese orphanage and rescued from the invading North Vietnamese army, Tuyet has been adopted by a kind and loving family in Canada. But polio has left her with a weak leg, and her foot is turned inward, making walking painful and difficult. She must have a series of operations but dreads doctors and the hospital because they bring back troubling memories of helicopters, a field hospital and another operation in Vietnam. But now that she has been given a chance at a normal life, Tuyet is determined to do what it takes to finally stand on her own two feet.

It is 1981. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a fishing boat overloaded with 60 Vietnamese refugees drifts. The motor has failed; the hull is leaking; the drinking water is nearly gone. This is the dramatic true story recounted by Tuan Ho, who was six years old when he, his mother, and two sisters dodged the bullets of Vietnam's military police for the perilous chance of boarding that boat. Told to multi-award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and illustrated by the celebrated Brian Deines, Tuan's story has become Adrift At Sea, the first picture book to describe the flight of...