It is so hopeful, but so sad. It is super interesting to read about refugees from a childs point of view. It was also interesting to not really see much of the western influences on the story. ( )

Audience: Middle School
Dara has suffered the horrors of the war that destroyed Cambodia in the 80s. She endured loss—her father was executed one night when Khmer Rouge soldiers came, the village was burned to the ground, and her grandmother died. Fleeing from war-torn Cambodia, Dara, her older brother and their mother set on a journey to find food and safety. With all their belongings on an oxcart, they make their way to the border with Thailand, where they settle in a refugee camp. Dara meets Jantu, another refugee girl who fled Cambodian with her grandfather, older sister, and baby brother. The two girls become friends, and Jantu’s talent to turn anything into toys leaves on Dara a lasting impression. War comes flooding back into their lives when soldiers enter the camp looking for recruits. Gunfire startles the crowd, and the families get lost in the confusion. In order to help Jantu and her baby brother who was injured by shrapnel, Dara must move forward alone, guided only by the marble fashioned from clay by Jantu’s hands. Her belief in the power of the clay marble takes her back to her family, but she finds Sarun, her older brother, consumed by political fervor as a member of the army. Dara pleas to her brother to take his future wife, Jantu’s older sister, and the rest of the two families back home, but Sarun refuses. A twist of fate places Dara and Jantu on the path of the camp’s night guards, and Jantu dies from a bullet shot by Sarun. Dara’s grief fuels her desire to leave the camp, and one by one, the family members side with her. Finally, Sarun gives in, and the families return home. Ten years later, Dara has a family of her own, and Jantu’s legacy lives on Dara’s intention to teach her daughter the art of turning clay into magic.
Mingfo Ho’s The Clay Marble mixes tragedy with hope, and the main character Dara survives the horrors of a landscape ravished by war through the power of friendship and self-reliance. At first, Dara depends on Jantu’s clay marble as a source of her strength. Jantu teaches Dara that magic comes from within, and this is a lesson that allows Dara to challenge her brother and guide the family home safely. Through the eyes of the 12-year old narrator, readers get a glimpse of the savagery of war, a dark force that spares no one. The anti-war message of the book is obvious in Jantu’s deathbed speech, and in her words Dara finds the resolve to find their way back home.
The Clay Marble works as a good introduction for readers to the turbulent history of Asia in the recent past. The book also works as a good introductory piece to discussions about war and its evils. Younger readers may get lost in the details of the factions fighting for power in Cambodia; older readers may be put off by Mingfo Ho’s sometimes heavy-handed characterization that borders stereotype and the very obvious anti-war message. The book, however, has a positive message of self-reliance, and this is an important lesson for many young people who may feel discouraged by obstacles in their everyday lives. Dara found within her the strength she needed to keep on moving, and she is an accessible role model for children faced with challenges. ( )

The Clay Marble by Minfong Ho, is a great book about war, survival, friendship and overcoming adversity. What is best about The Clay Marble is that one of the three main characters is a male. Many times books written for upper elementary/middle school age group don't have great characters that represent both sexes, making them more male or female books. The Clay Marble doesn't do this. The Clay Marble follows the adventures of two girls in a refuge camp on the Thai Cambodia border in the late 1970s. Minfong Ho worked at a camp, so I'm sure her experiences added to the realism in the novel. Dara and Jantu become friends in a refuge as their patchwork families struggle to survive with a constant hope of going home. The action and plot twists keep this story moving. However, I do get mixed reviews from my students; they either love it or hate it. I think the story of friendship and adversity overcome any weaknesses in the novel. It is descriptive with a well paced plot. ( )

FROM LIBRARY CATALOG:
Fleeing war-torn Cambodia in 1980, Dara, her mother, and her older brother find sanctuary in a refugee settlement on the Thailand border, but when fighting erupts, Dara finds herself separated from everyone and everything she loves.