She's a published author!

Yea for Audrey. Here's the article. You might not be able to read it, but that's okay... you should just buy a copy of the magazine. Seriously, support New Moon and these kinds of publications. They are rare these days.

The pictures are of Audrey with Thuong (I think) and Truc at the Home of Affection, Audrey with Kieu/Emma at the Baby Orphanage and a shot of her. The other is some stock photo of Vietnam (we've got better! -haha).

And here's a preview of her book we're working on. It's the story of a girl named Quy (kwee) who lives in Vietnam. This is the first of a series that she plans to write. My former students Ha and Man helped out with the translation. Her grandma is helping her color the illustrations with watercolors. Whee! We'll be working on pictures over the next couple of weeks and will have books ready for Christmas. If you are interested in getting your own copy, please let me know via our Vietnam With Kids site.

Monkey Dancing, the novel

I started reading Monkey Dancing about a year ago. Okay, maybe a bit less than that...10 months or so. It was a required reading for a travel writing class at PSU that I wanted to take, but couldn't fit it in. So I bought the text instead. It is, as the subtext says, the story of "A father, two kids, and a journey to the ends of the earth." Daniel Glick decided to take his kids on an adventure they'd never forget and traveled through Australia, SE Asia, and Europe with them (joined for a short stint by his girlfriend). It's a great story and in so many ways I related to his stories. His children were 9 and 13, the boy is oldest. Mine are 9 and 14, Stuart is older. He's divorced. His daughter whined, so did mine. He felt passion for the difference that he was making in his children's mind and also in the writing he did during and after his trip. I am dedicated to my children and the orphans in Viet Nam, though my ability to spread the message is limited to this blog (for now). His stories rang so true and I knew just what he felt at many points along the way.

A great read and definitely recommended for travelers, parents and interested bystanders. It was published in 2003 by Public Affairs Books. Look for it at your locally-owned bookstore or order it through him.