A great collection of stories featuring mostly Laotian immigrants in an unnamed city. Some are struggling, some ok. I particularly liked the stories that featured parents and children...The children in school and the parents having never been. There is a disconnect between these newly educated youngsters. Particularly moving was the mother and daughter who put together a puzzle of the world and the mother warning the daughter to be careful if she ever gets close to the edge because it is not safe. The elementary school daughter informs her mother that the earth is round and it is a slap in the face to the mother. The title story features a father and a young child. The father is the only one in the family who can read so the child goes to him to learn the word knife - later in school when the child learns the k is silent, she decides she can not tell her father. She doesn't really understand it herself, the k is right there in front. It is a lovely story along with many others here.
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