Bones that Float

Book excerpt: "On March 24, 2001, American writer Kari Grady Grossman entered a crowded orphanage outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and met her 8-month-old son. One of the first questions Kari asked was 'How did he get here?' The complex and at times heart-wrenching answer is told in this magnificent book that encompasses Kari's personal journey to adoption, Cambodia's gruesome history of war and genocide, and the stories of two Cambodians -- one who escaped the Khmer Rouge's bloody reign and one who did not. The interweaving stories grab your heartstrings and do not let go. From the moment Kari realizes that she will never be an 'earth momma' practicing prenatal yoga to years later as Kari wends her way on the back of a moto-taxi through Phnom Penh's smog-choked streets trying to make a difference in her son's birth nation, you can't read impassively. 'Bones That Float' takes you into the Khmer Rouge jungle where boy soldiers force starving families to labor all day at gunpoint, and it brings you to modern-day Phnom Penh streets where foreign pedophiles purchase the innocence of preteen Cambodian girls. But ultimately 'Bones That Float' -- a Cambodian phrase for the sacred that rises above the suffering -- is a tale of hope. Kari reminds us that our world is 'one big family' and that we cannot -- or dare not -- turn our backs on people who suffer in part because of our country's own foreign policy missteps. To read 'Bones That Float' is to open your heart to caring." ... "In a village called Chrauk Tick in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia, 485 children are the first people to learn to read and write. Armed with literacy, they are taking the first steps to change their lives. Our students have been featured on Voice of America demanding the rule of law to save their forest from illegal destruction, inspiring 100 primary school dropouts to choose the classroom instead of the fields. To continue this progress, the school will bring education sustainable cooking fuels, forest agriculture, a revival of music traditions, and communication technology to reach the outside world." ... "Friends of the Grady Grossman School is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. www.GradyGrossmanSchool.org.