In Guangzhou province, China, 1968, teenage Ming lives with other, older orphans and works in the fields like everyone else in his village. Six years before, Ming’s mother, like many in the village, died during the great famine that the government attributes to natural disasters but was in fact the result of poor policy. Ming’s father died—likely by gunshot—while trying to flee China by swimming to Hong Kong. Li is a member of the Red Guard sent to Ming’s village with other soldiers to learn how to farm. Observant and able to think for himself, he stands out among his comrades/fellow guards, and the two young men become friends. Li helps Ming see Fei, a girl he likes; Ming teaches Li to swim. Li doesn’t understand the village’s recent history, such as why everyone avoids the river (where they took their dead during the famine), but living in the village helps him to see that Mao’s words and policies are not necessarily good for everyone; a tragedy in his own family underscores this. This riveting story, inspired by the author’s father’s experience, uses fiction to illuminate aspects of Chinese history, politics, and policy during the Cultural Revolution. Above all it reveals through distinct and compelling characters that the desire for freedom is sometimes philosophical and sometimes a matter of survival, while the line between them is sometimes indistinct. In a note the author tells more about this period of history and her own father’s story. (Age 13 and older)

A powerful story of friendship, bravery, and a desperate bid for freedom, inspired by true events.

Ming survived the famine that killed his parents during China's "Great Leap Forward", and lives a hard but adequate life, working in the fields.

When a group of city boys comes to the village as part of a Communist Party re-education program, Ming and his friends aren't sure what to make of the new arrivals. They're not used to hard labor and village life. But despite his reservations, Ming befriends a charming city boy called Li. The two couldn't be more different, but slowly they form a bond over evening swims and shared dreams.

But as the bitterness of life under the Party begins to take its toll on both boys, they begin to imagine the impossible: freedom.