Originally published: 2020.
From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos-and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by Hernan Diaz as, "one of those rare novels that stays with us to become a standard with which we measure other books." From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos-and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by Hernan Diaz as, "one of those rare novels that stays with us to become a standard with which we measure other books." Alisak, Prany, and Noi-three orphans united by devastating loss-must do what is necessary to survive the perilous landscape of 1960s Laos. When they take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs. Soon the teens are serving as motorcycle couriers, delicately navigating their bikes across the fields filled with unexploded bombs, beneath the indi