(2) PS A young immigrant girl and her mother adjust to life in a new city in this hopeful picture book about resilience. The story follows the little girl over the course of a year as she grows more confident, makes friends, and ultimately thrives. She compares herself to a dandelion: "Like feathery seeds," she and her mother "take flight," leaving their homeland by plane. We aren't told why, but art on the dedication page shows the two boarding a military-looking bus. Lee's digitally rendered illustrations look like collage and have a tactile quality. Initially dark and oppressive when the family arrives in the city, the art lightens as the girl begins to acclimate to her surroundings: "We put down roots / in unfamiliar soil." As winter turns to spring, she blossoms; by book's end, she's strong enough to help welcome other newcomers. "Like a dandelion, I am strong and giving, planted happily in soil that I now call home." A photo of Lee and her siblings taken in a Cambodian refugee camp in the 1970s accompanies an author's note with some dandelion lore, and Lee dedicates the book in part to "my parents and siblings, with whom I shared this journey."

Reviewer: Michelle Lee

(2) YA After Sofie's fisherman dad heads south for a better winter catch, Sofie and Luke, a troubled young medic recently returned from Afghanistan, begin a tentative relationship and Sofie is forced to confront her fractured heritage when her Cambodian mother and grandmother move in. Farish writes the first-person narration in unadorned prose, focusing on raw emotions and details of the frigid wintertime–New Hampshire setting.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(4) K-3 Through vividly recalled stories, Dara learns of her grandmother's (Lok Yeay) life in Cambodia with her beloved brother before the invasion of the Khmer Rouge. Later, when Lok Yeay learns of her brother's death, Dara consoles her devastated grandmother with a hopeful story of her own. Lush oils illustrate this sentimental refugee story; information on Cambodian heritage is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) YA Grace and her mother bring Grace's grandmother's ashes home to the large Cambodian American community in St. Petersburg, Florida, for a traditional funeral. Grace's first real immersion into Cambodian culture brings up questions about the past--her own, her mother's, and her grandmother's. Replete with Cambodian historical and religious details, this thoughtful coming-of-age story is grounded in family and tradition.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(2) YA Henry's brother, Franklin, is comatose after a car accident involving a young Cambodian immigrant. Henry and his dog set off to Maine to climb Mt. Katahdin, as he and Franklin had planned to do together. Set in the 1970s, Schmidt's story presents three unforgettable characters--Henry, his friend Sanborn, and the accused Cambodian boy--and explores how tragedy and racism affect communities.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008