Lady Borton

A memoir of Lady Borton's visits to Viet Nam in 1987–1995 in connection with the American Friends Service Committee (Quaker Service) and her interactions with the people she met there.

I found the book to be an interesting look into Vietnamese culture and village life during this time period, as well as the economic and social changes taking place at the time. Although the American War (reckoned in Viet Nam as the period from the 1954 Geneva Accords to the 1975 fall of the US-backed Sai Gon government) looms large in the background, the focus of the memoir is on conveying the author's personal experiences and the personalities and culture of the people she met. The book is divided into three parts, the first describing the author's visits to Ban Long Village in the Mekong Delta, the second Khan Phu Village in the north, and a shorter third section set in the capital, Ha Noi. I found the first part to be the most engaging, as it seemed the author was able to make a closer personal connection to the people there compared to the more reserved interactions in the later sections. However, it was interesting to read all parts to get a more complete picture of Viet Nam as the author experienced it.

Overall, a pretty good memoir for those interested in Viet Nam.… (altro)

Fat Chance! tells the story of a little girl named, Marty who has a learning disability. Marty finds a cat who she names, Chancy and secretly goes out to feed Chancy because her mom doesn't like cats. One day Marty's mom goes outside to find her playing with the cat instead of learning her letters. In the end, her mom lets her keep the cat because her mom shows her the shapes of letters in the cat's body and from there she learns her letters. I liked this because I think children learn better when you can show them tricks in everyday life. They learn better when they can see it.… (altro)

This was a great book that shows the true friendship between a child and their animals. In this book, the main character Marty finds a 3 legged cat and tries to keep it as her own. Her mother refuses and Marty keeps refusing to learn her letters. Until her mother starts to realize the bond that Marty and the cat have, Marty's mother relates letter writing with the cat and Marty flourishes and becomes interested in learning. This is a good book for children to have to see that they can include their loved animals in their hard to do schoolwork.… (altro)