When the Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh and the Sokha family is forced to flee, she continues to cling to Teeda for companionship and strength, first in her grandparents’ village, from which her father is taken, and then in the camp where she, her sister, and her brother do forced labor. Minfong Ho currently lives in Ithaca, New York with her husband John and children Danfung, MeiMei and Christopher.Gr 6-10– Learning the graceful motions and steps that are part of classical Cambodian dance, 12-year-old Nakri has always followed in her older sister’s footsteps. Ho depicts the characters' adjustment struggles and memories of comforting past experiences. After spending three years in a Khmer Rouge labor camp, Nakri and her older brother are reunited with their family and escape to the refugee camps on the border of Thailand-and eventually, to America.

Ho gives a realistic, shocking interpretation that still remains appropriate for children. Ho's more recent children's book, published by Orchard Books in 2003, is The Stone Goddess, one of the books in the First Person Fiction series. Ho's later book Hush! A Thai Lullaby, illustrated by Holly Meade was named a Caldecott Honor Book, an ALA Notable Children's Book and The Horn Fanfare Book. Her first short story eventually evolved into her first novel, Sing to the Dawn, which received first prize from the Council of Interracial Books for Children. She recognized that many Americans had false notions about life in Asia and she set out to change this by writing based on her own experience there. While attending Cornell University, Ho began writing her first short story, in an attempt to combat strong feelings of homesickness. There, she received her BA in Economics and History as well as her M.F.A. She was educated in Thailand and Taiwan, before moving to the United States to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Her parents are of Chinese origin, so she spoke fluent Chinese in her home, Thai in the marketplace of Bangkok and English in school. Minfong Ho was born in Rangoon, Burma, and raised in both Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand. Holly Meade has illustrated many acclaimed books for children, including ON MORNING WINGS, THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, BLUE BOWL DOWN: AN APPALACHIAN RHYME, PEEK! A THAI HIDE-AND-SEEK, and HUSH! A THAI LULLABY, a Caldecott Honor Book. The author of such picture books as ON A WINTRY MORNING, ONE LITTLE MOUSE, and MOMMA, WILL YOU?, she lives in Germantown, Wisconsin. Dori Chaconas learned story pacing from an early age while entertaining her younger siblings.

The Stone Goddess by Minfong Ho