Scan barcode
kbholzman's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful, moving book. This account of an immigrant family from Laos who arrived in America after fleeing persecution should be required reading. The writing is exquisite.
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
A "Song Poet" in Laos is a person who sings songs about his family, his village and his country. This is a story of a Hmong refugee living in Minnesota and the songs he sings from memory. He sings of Laos before "the iron birds that dropped balls of fire from the sky."
This is a story of tragedy and loss. "I loved you during our sixth miscarriage..."(during an eleven year stay in a Thailand refugee camp).
The author has written this book out of love for her father. This book started slow, but once I was a third of the way in, I was immersed in the stories and culture of the Hmong people and it went very fast. This book is a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I want to thank the publisher for sending me this book through LibraryThing in return for an honest review.
This is a story of tragedy and loss. "I loved you during our sixth miscarriage..."(during an eleven year stay in a Thailand refugee camp).
The author has written this book out of love for her father. This book started slow, but once I was a third of the way in, I was immersed in the stories and culture of the Hmong people and it went very fast. This book is a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I want to thank the publisher for sending me this book through LibraryThing in return for an honest review.
karnaconverse's review
4.0
A memoir that becomes even more poignant the longer I think about it and the more I learn about the author
When the Vietnam War expanded into Laos, the CIA recruited the Hmong to fight against communism but when America left the country, Laos's communist government ordered a "re-education" of all who remained. Bee Yang was 16 when his family left their remote mountain village for the surrounding jungles in 1975. They knew of neighboring villages that had been burned, of men and boys who had been taken for re-education but never returned, and of the dead who had been left in piles, to rot. For three years, he hid from the Pathet Lao with his mother and his siblings and their families. He befriended and married Chue Moua and then crossed into Thailand and to the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp when they could no longer scavenge enough food for the growing family group. Eight years later and as refugees of war, they landed in the United States and made their way to St. Paul, Minnesota where Bee and Chue took labor-intensive, assembly-line factory jobs so they could provide for their family.
One of their daughters, Kao Kalia, was born in the refugee camp and she tells her father's story with respect, honor, and love. The Song Poet is both meditative and inspiring—much like the art form itself. In Hmong tradition, a song poet keeps the past alive. He tells stories of his people's history—the joys and struggles; the marriages, births, and deaths; the folk tales and the lessons learned. Bee was revered as a song poet at a young age and became so well-known for his performances during their early years in St. Paul that he recorded a cassette tape of songs for the community.
In both his voice and hers (and under section titles of Side A and Side B), Kao Kalia introduces the Bee who survived the jungles, the refugee camp, and the unsafe working conditions of an American factory so his children could have a better life and pays homage to the Bee who impressed stories of patience and kindness upon others so they could see the good in humanity. Each Track (chapter) is prefaced with lyrics from one of Bee's songs, and it's easy to see that he understands the power of words as much as she does.
The Song Poet has been a finalist for several other awards including the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN USA Literacy Center Award winner; it was awarded the 2017 Minnesota Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. This is her second memoir. Kao Kalia is currently writing books for children. Bee 's art can be heard in this Minnesota PBS story: https://video.pbsnc.org/video/art-bee-yang-a4ruwc/
When the Vietnam War expanded into Laos, the CIA recruited the Hmong to fight against communism but when America left the country, Laos's communist government ordered a "re-education" of all who remained. Bee Yang was 16 when his family left their remote mountain village for the surrounding jungles in 1975. They knew of neighboring villages that had been burned, of men and boys who had been taken for re-education but never returned, and of the dead who had been left in piles, to rot. For three years, he hid from the Pathet Lao with his mother and his siblings and their families. He befriended and married Chue Moua and then crossed into Thailand and to the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp when they could no longer scavenge enough food for the growing family group. Eight years later and as refugees of war, they landed in the United States and made their way to St. Paul, Minnesota where Bee and Chue took labor-intensive, assembly-line factory jobs so they could provide for their family.
One of their daughters, Kao Kalia, was born in the refugee camp and she tells her father's story with respect, honor, and love. The Song Poet is both meditative and inspiring—much like the art form itself. In Hmong tradition, a song poet keeps the past alive. He tells stories of his people's history—the joys and struggles; the marriages, births, and deaths; the folk tales and the lessons learned. Bee was revered as a song poet at a young age and became so well-known for his performances during their early years in St. Paul that he recorded a cassette tape of songs for the community.
In both his voice and hers (and under section titles of Side A and Side B), Kao Kalia introduces the Bee who survived the jungles, the refugee camp, and the unsafe working conditions of an American factory so his children could have a better life and pays homage to the Bee who impressed stories of patience and kindness upon others so they could see the good in humanity. Each Track (chapter) is prefaced with lyrics from one of Bee's songs, and it's easy to see that he understands the power of words as much as she does.
The Song Poet has been a finalist for several other awards including the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN USA Literacy Center Award winner; it was awarded the 2017 Minnesota Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. This is her second memoir. Kao Kalia is currently writing books for children. Bee 's art can be heard in this Minnesota PBS story: https://video.pbsnc.org/video/art-bee-yang-a4ruwc/
sarabaggins's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
bthnywhthd's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful blended memoir of the author and the author's father's experience in the world as Hmong individuals. Wonderful writing, sad stories of loss, optimistic stories of hope, and the family's ties to community and relatives in Laos and Thailand and the US.
k5tog's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this book read by the author. At first, I struggled with the author’s reading as it seemed a little stilted, but as I got used to her voice, I could really feel the emotions - particularly when she talked about her brother’s struggles with being bullied in high school. The story of her family’s flight from Laos and their difficulties adapting to life in Minnesota are intriguing and informative.
ryner's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.0
Several years ago I read Yang's first memoir and found it beautiful and, perhaps more importantly, eye-opening. In this followup, she enhances the story of her family's history, their flight from Laos following the Vietnam War, and the challenges of forging a new life in the United States as refugees by focusing on the narrative through the eyes of her father, the song-poet Bee Yang.
While there was a sense of repetition in this story when compared with The Latehomecomer, Yang's prose and writing style are gorgeous and a delight to read, and she handles the frequently heavy content with honesty and grace. While reading I felt as though I've been warmly welcomed into the Yang home, and now that it has been seven years since this book was written I can't help but wonder how everyone is doing, especially Xue.
While there was a sense of repetition in this story when compared with The Latehomecomer, Yang's prose and writing style are gorgeous and a delight to read, and she handles the frequently heavy content with honesty and grace. While reading I felt as though I've been warmly welcomed into the Yang home, and now that it has been seven years since this book was written I can't help but wonder how everyone is doing, especially Xue.