Escape from Tibet: A True Story - Softcover

Gray, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554516625 ISBN 13: 9781554516629

Publisher: Annick Press, 2014

Synopsis

Two brothers face cruelty, hardship, and hope, on the ultimate journey in search of freedom. Eleven-year-old Tenzin hasn’t seen his older brother, Pasang, in five years, so he is thrilled when Pasang unexpectedly returns to their Tibetan village late one night. Now eighteen, Pasang is an educated monk whose return from India provokes the suspicious and ever-watchful eyes of the Chinese authorities. Unbeknownst to Tenzin, Pasang has conspired with their mother to leave again taking his younger brother with him, this time, in search of a better life. Based on the true story of the brothers’ journey in the mid-1990s first made into an acclaimed documentary by Nick Gray, Escape from Tibet is a riveting tale of courage, adventure, and triumph. A foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and an introduction provide historical context. Black and white photographs of Nick Gray’s travels through Tibet vividly evoke the boys’ homeland, and a timeline, glossary, and maps further contextualize the Tibetans’ controversial and ongoing struggle with China.

About this title

About the Author

Nick Gray is a documentary-maker whose films have won many international awards. He now writes and teaches at the University of Lincoln in England where he is Visiting Professor. Escape from Tibet is his first book.

Laura Scandiffio has written many non-fiction books for young readers, including the award-winning People Who Said No and, most recently, Outlaws, Spies, and Gangsters. She lives with her family in Toronto, Ontario.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—Documentary filmmaker Gray and writer Scandiffio have collaborated on this account of two brothers who fled from their native Tibet to India. The story begins in the middle of the night, when 10-year-old Tenzin's older brother Pasang returned to his impoverished family home in occupied Tibet, years after escaping his monastery for greater freedom in India. Pasang convinced their mother to allow him to sneak the younger boy into India, a country with better prospects for Tibetans. But their journey was far from easy. With workmanlike prose, the authors describe the dangerous voyage as the brothers begged for money in unfriendly towns, evaded border police, and crossed the Himalayas on foot with only blankets to keep warm. The book emphasizes Tenzin's perspective on the events, effectively highlighting his bewilderment and distress at every stage of their journey, from the bustling city of Lhasa to the terrifying heights of the icy Death Pass and finally to the vagaries of refugee bureaucracy. But the younger boy's limited comprehension of his family's plight under Chinese rule sometimes renders the urgency of the trip confusing. Tenzin wasn't quite sure why they had to escape, and the brief introduction provides insufficient context for most readers to understand the perils of staying in Tibet and the opportunities to be gained from leaving. Still, the brothers' triumph makes for a heartwarming tale, and their story offers a glimpse at a corner of the world too little explored in works for this audience.—Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY

About this edition

• Publisher: Annick Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1554516625
• ISBN 13: 9781554516629
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 164