Originally published in 2010, Bamboo People, is new in paperback and just listed on the 2014 Rebecca Caudill Master List. Mitali Perkins gives us a fascinating story of two boys involved in Myanmar’s ongoing war with its ethnic minorities. Studious Chiko is tricked by the Burmese military into the army; tough Tu Reh is a Karenni refuge intent on avenging the burning of his village. Bamboo People, told from both of the boys’ perspectives, is an adventure story, a war story and a real page turner. Mitali Perkins (Rickshaw Girl) lived in Chiang Mai Thailand for three years and toured Karenni refuge camps on the Thai-Burma border, which gave her the idea for this book. Her website, www.bamboopeople.org, is terrific, sharing resources with kids who want to help. Strongly recommended.

This book shines a light on a little known civil war in Myanmar. It follows the lives of two boy soldiers from very different backgrounds. Fifteen-year-old Chiko is from a family of intellectuals. His doctor father has been imprisoned by the government. Chiko goes in search of a teaching job when he is pressed into military service in the Burmese Army against his will. He is unprepared for the harsh conditions the boys are forced to endure. Chiko and his fellow boy soldiers are trained to be guerilla fighters against the Karenni rebels. Tu Reh, a teen himself, is a member of the ethnic minority Karenni fighting the Burmese Army. Tu Reh watched the government soldiers burn his village and he is full of anger. He is on his first military mission for the resistance. When he is sent on a suicide mission, Chiko is severely wounded and left for dead. Tu Reh finds Chiko, and then has some difficult decisions to make. Should he kill Chiko, as the elder men in his party order? Or, should he take him prisoner and find him help? This is a story of war, friendship, and transcending differences. ~Alexa Newman, Youth Services Librarian

Splitting her book between two boys on opposite sides of a war they do not want, Perkins deftly drops us head first into a world we do not know and makes it accessible, understandable, and interesting. In a time when every other novel for kids is just a reiteration of an idea we’ve seen done a hundred ways before, here we have at least one book that knows that being important and being enjoyable are simply opposite sides of the same coin.

I found the book to be riveting and informational. I know very little about the ongoing conflict in Burma, and this was an interesting introduction. I would have liked a bit more character development, but it was not bad for juvenile fiction. Mitali Perkins has a knack for storytelling.

Good ending, I love the book!!! The author is fuc up for making chiko blow up his leg by stepping on a mine

Bamboo People was a great read! It was nice to read a story set in a different country with a different culture, even though the premise of the Burmese civil wars is very sad, but the hope and strength of the characters make it worthwhile to enjoy and spread this book around.

Nice story about a country that is not familiar to many.

I am only on page 5 and I am already addicted to it. So far it is the best book I have read this year.

It was too short! I wanted to read more of the story! Even though we know what happens.